London · Council licensing
Landlord licensing in Greenwich
✓ Hand-verified 19 Aug 2026Greenwich operates discretionary property licensing. Letting an unlicensed property where a scheme applies risks a civil penalty of up to £30,000 and a rent repayment order — check whether your property is covered below.
Required for any HMO let to 5 or more people forming 2+ households who share facilities.
Greenwich sets this fee under section 63(3) of the Housing Act 2004. Its current charge is not yet recorded here.
The council’s own licensing page carries the charge that applies today — confirm it there before you budget.
Not established is not the same as free.
Greenwich operates a selective licensing scheme covering five wards: Woolwich Arsenal, Woolwich Common, Shooters Hill, Plumstead Common and Plumstead Glyndon. It came into force on 1 October 2022. Within those wards every privately rented single-household home needs a licence regardless of how many people live there, so an ordinary flat or a house let to one family is caught as well as shared housing. The council publishes an address lookup so a landlord can check whether a specific property falls inside the designated area. A much larger replacement scheme is being consulted on: the proposal would cover 18 wards, 17 in full plus part of Woolwich Arsenal, and would replace the current designation. Cabinet is due to decide the designated areas, the licence conditions, the fees and the start date towards the end of 2026, and the scheme would begin after the statutory notice period. A landlord in a ward outside the current five should therefore expect to need a licence in due course. Letting without a required licence is a criminal offence carrying a civil penalty of up to £30,000 or prosecution, and exposes the landlord to a rent repayment order.
Areas: Five wards: Woolwich Riverside (recorded on this row previously as Woolwich Arsenal, which is not the current ward name), Woolwich Common, Shooters Hill, Plumstead Common, Plumstead Glyndon. Made 31 March 2022
One payment.
Greenwich — royalgreenwich.gov.uk, read 19 Aug 2026
Scheme runs until: 1 October 2027
Greenwich operates a borough-wide additional licensing scheme covering smaller houses in multiple occupation — properties let to three or four people from more than two households. That brings smaller shared homes within licensing below the five-occupant threshold of the national mandatory regime, and it applies across the whole borough rather than in designated areas. Mandatory HMO licensing continues to apply separately wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households. Because Greenwich also runs selective licensing across five wards, with a much larger replacement scheme under consultation, a landlord should establish which scheme catches a given property before applying: a shared house of three or four occupants needs an additional licence anywhere in the borough, while a single-household let needs a selective licence only inside a designated ward.
Areas: Whole borough, including s.257 HMOs. Made 20 September 2023. Replaced an earlier scheme that ran 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2022, leaving a 15-month gap with no additional licensing
Charged for each letting in the property.
| Per unit | £508.50 |
| Each unit | £305.10 |
- Discount
Greenwich — royalgreenwich.gov.uk, read 19 Aug 2026
Scheme runs until: 31 December 2028
Common questions
Does Greenwich have a selective licensing scheme?
Yes. Greenwich operates a selective licensing scheme. Letting a property covered by it without a licence risks a civil penalty of up to £30,000, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and the loss of the right to serve a section 21 notice.
Does Greenwich have an additional HMO licensing scheme?
Yes. Greenwich operates an additional HMO licensing scheme. Letting a property covered by it without a licence risks a civil penalty of up to £30,000, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and the loss of the right to serve a section 21 notice.
Do I need an HMO licence in Greenwich?
A mandatory HMO licence is required anywhere in England and Wales, including Greenwich, where a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households who share basic amenities. Smaller shared houses may also need a licence where an additional licensing scheme applies.
- Free landlord compliance check — five questions, no account
- Tenancy agreement checker — findings cited to the Act and section
Selective licensing in Greenwich: areas, dates and fees →
Additional HMO licensing in Greenwich: areas, dates and fees →
All property licensing in London →
Source: Greenwich licensing page →
Every landlord in Greenwich also needs
A valid Gas Safety certificate (annual), an EICR (every 5 years), a valid EPC, a protected deposit, smoke & CO alarms, the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet, and a current How to Rent guide — plus the new Section 8 possession rules since Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026.
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