Applying for an HMO licence in Greenwich?
First-time HMO landlord, or just unsure where to start? The Royal Borough of Greenwich operates all three property licensing schemes — and adds a 30% surcharge to every late application. The council has issued over £1 million in civil penalties to landlords. Getting your application right first time matters more here than almost anywhere else. We'll inspect your property before you apply, tell you exactly what needs fixing, and (if you'd like) submit the licence application for you. Inspections from £199, licence applications from £295. No jargon, no surprises.
Not sure if your Greenwich property needs a licence? Yes — and there's a 30% surcharge if you're late.Greenwich charges a 30% surcharge on every late HMO licence application — on top of the standard fee. The Additional scheme covers smaller HMOs borough-wide, the Selective scheme covers 5 wards, and the Mandatory scheme applies to larger HMOs. Greenwich has issued over £1 million in penalties to landlords. Get your application right first time, on time.
Which Greenwich Licence Applies to You?
The Royal Borough of Greenwich has three HMO licensing schemes running at the same time. Which one applies depends on how many people live in the property and where it sits in the borough. The table below explains each in plain English. Not sure where you fit? Send us the address and number of occupants on WhatsApp — we'll tell you in 5 minutes.
Mandatory
Required where 5 or more people from 2+ households share. Per-letting fee structure with significant scaling for larger properties.
£508.50 per letting (up to 5) · £2,542.50 for 5-bedAdditional
Required for any HMO of 3 or 4 people from 2+ households across the entire borough. Includes Section 257 converted blocks.
Per-letting fee structure (similar to mandatory)Selective
Required for single-family or two-sharer lets in parts of Plumstead, Glyndon, Shooters Hill, Woolwich Common and Woolwich Riverside. Council ambition to expand further.
£872.59 (15% renewal discount available)Greenwich offers two distinctive discounts worth knowing about: a 15% reduction on selective licence fees for renewals, and a further 15% if you accept a council-nominated tenant for at least 12 months. However, if the council discovers your unlicensed property before you apply, a 30% surcharge applies on top of the standard fee. Greenwich is a Royal Borough — the council's full title is the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Confirm the current published fee structure with the council before applying.
Established Regime, Expanding Reach.
Greenwich estimates around 14,150 properties need licensing across all three schemes. Take-up under the previous additional scheme was around 25% — meaning most landlords didn't apply. The council has explicitly stated its intention to expand the selective licensing scheme further across the borough and is investing in technology to identify unlicensed properties.
The selective scheme covers parts of these wards rather than entire ward boundaries — use the council's postcode checker to verify whether your specific property is within the designated area. The scheme runs until 30 September 2027 and the council has stated publicly its ambition to expand selective licensing further across the borough.
How We De-Risk Your Application.
Greenwich's £1m+ enforcement track record and 30% fee surcharge for unlicensed properties make this one of the higher-risk boroughs to operate without a licence. Add the borough-wide Article 4 Direction and the council's stated ambition to expand selective licensing further, and the cost of a pre-application inspection is small compared to what's at stake.
On-site inspection by an EHO. Full report against Greenwich's licence conditions and the council's published amenity and room size standards. You get a prioritised action list, not a generic checklist.
Get a quoteWe complete and submit your Mandatory, Additional or Selective licence application via Greenwich's online portal. Includes plan annotation, document collation and direct liaison with the council's licensing team.
Get a quoteCommon Greenwich HMO Setups.
Greenwich's housing stock spans Georgian and Victorian terraces in the historic core around Maritime Greenwich, large 1930s semis in Eltham and Blackheath, post-war estates around the Greenwich Peninsula, and a fast-growing build-to-rent corridor along the Thames at Royal Arsenal Riverside. The licence conditions are uniform but typical findings vary heavily by area.
Woolwich & PlumsteadSE18 · Selective + Additional
Dense Victorian and Edwardian terraces, the heart of Greenwich's selective licensing area. Significant regeneration around Royal Arsenal Riverside has brought build-to-rent stock alongside older HMOs. Common findings: bedrooms below the 6.51m² minimum, kitchen amenities undersized for occupancy, EICRs that haven't kept pace with extension works, and Section 257 blocks where the 1980s-90s conversion paperwork no longer reflects current Building Regulations.
Greenwich Town & MaritimeSE10 · Conservation areas
Georgian and early Victorian terraces in conservation areas, including the UNESCO World Heritage site at Maritime Greenwich. Heritage constraints affect external alterations and window upgrades. Typical issues: listed-building constraints affecting fire door upgrades, single-staircase escape routes, and converted upper-floor flats above retail with fire separation issues.
Charlton & BlackheathSE7 · SE3 · Additional only
Mix of Victorian terraces, Georgian villas and inter-war semis. Many large family homes converted to professional HMOs of 5+. Common issues: fire compartmentation in extensions, missing interlinked alarms, and licence applications that don't reflect actual current room layouts in older terraces. Article 4 Direction means C3-to-C4 conversions need planning permission too.
Eltham & MottinghamSE9 · Additional only
Mostly inter-war semi-detached housing, with some post-war estate stock. Less licensing activity historically but additional borough-wide rules now apply. Typical issues: extension works without adequate fire-compartmentation, gas safety certificates not aligned to actual tenant occupancy dates, and older boilers without recent service records.
Greenwich Peninsula & RiversideSE10 · SE18 · Build-to-rent
Newer purpose-built apartments — often let by buy-to-let investors. Issues are usually documentation-focused: shared utilities arrangements, accurate occupancy declarations in newer blocks, and management agreements where a separate agent handles the day-to-day. Block-level questions about Section 257 status often arise here for older converted blocks within the regeneration zone.
Questions Greenwich Landlords Are Asking.
When did Greenwich's additional HMO licensing scheme come into force?
The Royal Borough of Greenwich's borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme came into force on 1 January 2024 and runs for five years until 31 December 2028. It was approved by Cabinet on 20 September 2023 following public consultation. The scheme covers all HMOs occupied by 3 or 4 people from 2+ households across the entire borough — including Section 257 converted blocks where less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. Greenwich also has a borough-wide HMO Article 4 Direction in force since September 2017.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Greenwich?
Greenwich Council charges £508.50 per letting for mandatory HMO licences, up to 5 lettings — so a 5-bedroom shared house comes to £2,542.50. Additional licence fees follow a similar tiered structure. Selective licence applications are £872.59. There is a 15% discount for licence renewals and a further 15% discount if you agree to accept a council-nominated tenant for at least 12 months. Discovery of an unlicensed property by the council can add a 30% surcharge to your fee when you eventually apply.
Which Greenwich wards are covered by selective licensing?
Five wards: Plumstead, Glyndon, Shooters Hill, Woolwich Common and Woolwich Riverside (sometimes referenced as Woolwich Arsenal in older council materials following the 2024 ward boundary review). The selective licensing scheme started on 1 October 2022 and runs for five years until 30 September 2027. Use the council's postcode checker to verify whether your specific property is within the designated area — the scheme covers parts of these wards rather than the entire ward boundaries. The council has stated publicly its ambition to expand selective licensing further across the borough.
Are Section 257 HMOs covered by Greenwich's additional scheme?
Yes — Greenwich's additional licensing scheme explicitly includes Section 257 HMOs. These are converted blocks of flats where the conversion did not comply with the relevant Building Regulations in force at the time and still does not comply, and where less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. Each such block needs its own additional licence. Greenwich has many older converted properties that fall under this rule, particularly in Woolwich, Plumstead and Charlton.
What's the penalty for operating an unlicensed HMO in Greenwich?
Greenwich Council has issued over £1,083,500 in fines to HMO landlords who failed to license their properties. Civil penalties up to £40,000 per offence apply, criminal prosecution carries an unlimited fine, and Rent Repayment Orders can reclaim up to 12 months' rent under existing rules — extending to 24 months under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Section 21 notices cannot be served on tenants of an unlicensed property. The council has launched a large-scale intelligence-gathering project to identify unlicensed properties and is investing in new technologies to expand its enforcement capability.
Do you work with letting agents managing Greenwich HMOs?
Yes — we work with letting agents and managing agents handling HMO portfolios. If you'd value an independent third-party compliance check rather than relying on your team's own walkthrough, get in touch about volume arrangements.