Do I need a licence?
Are you a Brent landlord or letting agent?
Most private rental properties in our borough now require a licence. We have extended our licensing scheme to help raise standards in the private housing sector, creating high quality and affordable accommodation for Brent residents.
Around 12 raids are carried out by the council's enforcement team in Brent every week, averaging more than 600 raids a year. An average of two to five prosecutions now take place in Brent every month. Landlords and agents running unlicensed properties will eventually be caught and prosecuted. If you fail to get a licence, you could receive an unlimited fine and be given a criminal record.
Read about the different types of licence below and then complete the very short questionnaire to find out.
Landlord licence types explained
Mandatory Licensing Scheme
This applies to houses in multiple occupation (HMO's) of three or more storeys occupied by five or more people, making up two or more households.
Additional Licensing Scheme
This applies to all privately rented properties occupied by three or more people making up two or more households, regardless of the number of storeys in the property.
Selective Licensing Scheme
All privately rented properties in the Harlesden, Wembley Central and Willesden Green wards must have a property licence.
Do I need a licence?
Answer these questions to find out if you need a licence and if so, which type you need.
Q1
How many people live at your privately rented property?
Q2
How many households live at the property?
Q3
How many storeys does the the property have?
Q4
How many people live at your privately rented property?
If the property is in the wards of Harlesden, Wembley Central or Willesden Green it falls under the:
Selective Licensing Scheme
Enter the postcode into My Location to see if it is.
Apply for this licence now
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What you will need to apply
Before starting the application
Are you the right person to apply for the licence?
The person applying must be the landlord or the agent who is responsible for managing the property.
This should also be the person who is able to authorise, organise and pay for essential repairs to the property.
Licence cost
Mandatory HMO licences cost £540 plus £25 for each additional habitable room over five habitable rooms
Additional HMO licences cost £540
Selective licences cost £340, discounts may apply
View the full list of fees here .
How long the licence is valid
A licence may be issued for up to five years.
A licence is needed for each of your properties
A licence is for the property and not for you as an individual. If you have properties outside of the borough you will need to apply for a licence with the relevant local authority.
Filling in the application form
You should allow around 45 minutes. You can save the form at any stage and go back to it if you need to.
What you'll need for your application
1. Full details of the license holder (if the applicant is not the proposed license holder). The licence holder must be the landlord or the person who is responsible for managing the property (to whom the tenants pay rent to).
2. Details of freeholder(s) and lease holder(s).
3. Mortgage company and any person or organisation that has a legal interest in the property.
4. A scanned copy of the current gas safe certificate. This will need to be uploaded as part of the application.
5. If you're applying for a mandatory or additional licence, you will need to categorise the rooms as follows:
bedroom
bedroom with WC
bedroom with shower or bath
bedsit (bedroom with cooking facility)
bedsit with WC (bedroom with cooking and water closet and wash hand basin)
self contained flats.
You will also need to provide the following information:
the number of bedrooms, living rooms (communal rooms), communal kitchens, bathrooms, shower rooms, WC (water closet with wash hand basin)
room sizes (in metres squared) for all bedrooms, bedsits, communal kitchens and communal rooms. (e.g. living room)
number of cooking facilities within the communal kitchen
the locations and description of all rooms within the property.
6. Details of fire alarm system and health and safety provisions in place, for example extinguishers, alarm sounders, fire doors and emergency lighting.
Apply now
What happens next
Your application will normally be processed within six weeks and we will contact you if we need any more information from you.
If your application is successful, you will be issued with a draft licence setting out the conditions and length of your licence and you will be given a consultation period (normally 21 days) to inform us about any amendments you want to make to the licence conditions. If your amendments are accepted by us, we will then issue you with an updated draft licence.
If you are happy with the draft licence you do not need to contact us. We will automatically issue your licence once the consultation period has ended.
If your application is not successful we will contact you to let you know why and tell you what changes you need to make to it.
Once the consultation period has ended and you are happy with the licence you will be issued with the actual property licence and conditions.
If the property is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), you will be contacted during the licence period to arrange access for a council officer to inspect the property. This is to ensure that the property complies with its licence and is free of any serious hazards.
