Selective licensing in Greenwich

What the designation says

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.

What this means for a landlord

A licence must be in place before the property is let, not applied for afterwards. Operating unlicensed in a designated area is a criminal offence: a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and a section 21 notice that cannot be served while the property is unlicensed. Mandatory HMO licensing applies separately and everywhere, wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.

Greenwich's own licensing page →