London · Council licensing
Landlord licensing in Lewisham
✓ Hand-verified 24 Aug 2026Lewisham 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.
Paid in two parts — one on application, the balance before the licence is issued.
| Each LETTABLE UNIT | £500 |
Lewisham — lewisham.gov.uk, read 19 Aug 2026
Lewisham operates a selective licensing scheme that came into force on 1 July 2024. It covers 18 wards — effectively the whole borough except Telegraph Hill and a small part of Blackheath — and around 20,000 properties. Nearly every privately rented home not already caught by the borough's HMO licensing schemes needs a selective licence, so an ordinary flat or a house let to a single household is covered as well as shared housing. Licences normally run for five years, though the council may issue a shorter one. The basic fee is £640, taken in two parts: £160 on application and £480 on grant. Discounts are applied to the second payment for accredited landlords, eligible charities and early applications, with a 20% reduction for applications made in the first three months of the scheme. Letting an unlicensed property 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: Three designations covering 16 wards, being all wards except Telegraph Hill and a small area of Blackheath, on pre-May 2022 boundaries. Designation one: Brockley, Catford South, Lewisham Central, New Cross, Perry Vale, Rushey Green. Designation two: Crofton Park, Evelyn, Ladywell, Lee Green, Sydenham. Designation three: Bellingham, Downham, Forest Hill, Grove Park, Whitefoot. Made 8 March 2023, confirmed by the Secretary of State 30 November 2023
Paid in two parts — one on application, the balance before the licence is issued.
| On application | £160 |
| On grant | £480 |
| Total | £640 |
Lewisham, read 24 August 2026
Scheme runs until: 1 July 2029
Lewisham operates a borough-wide additional licensing scheme, introduced on 22 April 2022 and running for at least five years. It covers smaller houses in multiple occupation that fall outside the national mandatory regime: properties let to three or more people who are not from one household and who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom. Mandatory licensing continues to apply separately to HMOs of five or more people. Because Lewisham also runs near borough-wide selective licensing from 1 July 2024, almost every private let in the borough now needs a licence of one kind or another, and a landlord should establish which scheme catches a given property before applying. Letting a licensable HMO without a licence carries a civil penalty of up to £30,000 or prosecution, and exposes the landlord to a rent repayment order. A SECOND ADDITIONAL DESIGNATION APPEARS TO EXIST. Lewisham's committee record (lewisham.moderngov.co.uk, issue 18356) records "the designation of an additional licensing scheme for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) above commercial premises in the whole of the Council's area" — a different scope from the borough-wide small-HMO scheme described above, not a restatement of it. Its commencement and duration are not yet established here. A landlord letting an HMO above a shop should treat licensing as likely to apply and confirm directly with Lewisham. We record both rather than replacing one with the other, because a narrower designation existing alongside a wider one is not a correction to the wider one.
Areas: Borough-wide. Section 257 HMOs excluded
Paid in two parts — one on application, the balance before the licence is issued.
| Part 1 | £250 |
| Part 2 | £250 |
| Total | £500 |
| Each LETTABLE UNIT | £500 |
Lewisham — lewisham.gov.uk, read 19 Aug 2026
Scheme runs until: 4 April 2027
Common questions
Does Lewisham have a selective licensing scheme?
Yes. Lewisham 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 Lewisham have an additional HMO licensing scheme?
Yes. Lewisham 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 Lewisham?
A mandatory HMO licence is required anywhere in England and Wales, including Lewisham, 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 Lewisham: areas, dates and fees →
Additional HMO licensing in Lewisham: areas, dates and fees →
All property licensing in London →
Source: Lewisham licensing page →
Every landlord in Lewisham 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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