Additional HMO licensing · London Borough of Havering
London Borough of Havering Designation for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation No.2 2026 (council page name: Scheme 3 Designation Area; the selective notice calls it the London Borough of Havering Designation of an Area for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation 2025)
- Status
- In force
- Runs
- 18 March 2026 to 17 March 2031
- Designated
- 18 December 2025
- Fee
- £1,400 for a licence that usually lasts five years: £840 when you apply and £560 if the licence is granted. The second payment is £100 less for accredited landlords and £75 less for a home with an EPC of C or above, if all the documents are sent with the application. Each further HMO in the same building under the same owner and manager is £100 less. You lose the discounts if the council has sent you a warning letter for not licensing. A paper application costs £117.10 more.
- Applies to
- HMOs anywhere in Havering let to three or four people from two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, including shared flats in purpose-built blocks. HMOs with five or more people usually need a mandatory licence instead. The council's documents differ on converted blocks of flats (section 257 HMOs): the published designation includes those where every flat is privately rented and in the same ownership, apart from blocks of two flats, while the selective notice says they are left out, so ask the council if you own one. Exempt: buildings the law says aren't HMOs, and HMOs under a management order or with a temporary exemption.
Our records last verified 18 October 2026 · council designation page · licence conditions
Area covered
The scheme covers the whole of London Borough of Havering. Every privately rented property in the borough that meets the scheme’s criteria needs a licence, wherever it is.
London Borough of Havering also runs its own address-level lookup: check whether a specific address falls inside the scheme.
What this means for landlords
Additional HMO licensing extends licensing to shared homes below the national 5-person mandatory threshold. If your property in this area houses unrelated sharers, check the scheme’s occupancy criteria. Running a licensable HMO without a licence carries the same penalties as any licensing offence: a civil penalty of up to £40,000 and a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent.
Is your property inside the scheme area?
This checker reflects HouseFile’s records of council licensing designations, not the councils’ live registers. Our records indicate the position at the verification date shown on each result. Schemes are designated, renewed and revoked throughout the year, and postcode-level lookups are approximate near scheme boundaries. Always confirm with the council before letting or buying a property, using the source link on each card. This is general information, not legal advice.
If you hold a licence here, HouseFile can track its renewal date
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