Hackney Landlord Licensing Schemes

What the new schemes cover:

• Additional Licensing: This applies to all Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Hackney that are not already covered by the national mandatory HMO scheme. An HMO for these purposes is a property where three or more people from two or more households live together and share basic facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.
• Selective Licensing: This applies to most other privately rented homes in 17 of Hackney’s 21 wards, regardless of the number of tenants. A licence will normally be required whether the property is rented to a single household or to one or two unrelated individuals.

Licence fees:

• The fee for an additional licence (HMO) is set at £1,400.
• The fee for a selective licence is set at £925.

These fees are intended to cover the costs of administering, inspecting and monitoring the schemes.

Why the schemes are being introduced:

The licensing schemes are designed to improve rental standards across Hackney, help ensure that properties are safe and well managed, and strengthen protections for tenants.

Penalties for non-compliance:

Landlords who let out a property that should be licensed but isn’t may be subject to enforcement action. This can include financial penalties and, in some cases, tenants might be able to seek a rent repayment order for up to 12 months’ rent if offences have been committed.

Application process:

At present, Hackney Council has not yet opened the application process for these new licences. The Council has stated that details on how to apply will be published in due course.

We will continue to monitor developments and will share updates as soon as further information is released. In the meantime, landlords may wish to start preparing their documentation and compliance checks ahead of the application launch.

Please note that landlords will also have the option to apply directly to Hackney Council once the application process opens.

More information is available on the Hackney Council website:
https://hackney.gov.uk/property-licensing

We are currently in discussions with specialist companies to explore the possibility of offering an application service to our landlords. We will update existing landlords once we have received costings and can confirm whether this service will be provided.

If you are considering letting out your property within Hackney and would like to speak to us about your requirements as a landlord and how we can help, please do get in touch. We can provide a fully-managed service which includes overseeing your legal compliance. For more information about our landlord services can be found at the page below.