Redbridge: borough-wide small-HMO licensing and 17 selective wards
Redbridge licences heavily. Additional HMO licensing has applied borough-wide since 18 September 2023, running to 17 September 2028. Selective licensing operates under two separate designations covering seventeen wards between them - Ilford Town and Valentines from 1 November 2023, and fifteen more wards from 8 April 2024. Redbridge fees are also among the highest in London.
Which wards, and which scheme
Scheme 3 covers Ilford Town and Valentines from 1 November 2023. Scheme 4 covers Aldborough, Barkingside, Chadwell, Churchfields, Clementswood, Cranbrook, Fairlop, Goodmayes, Hainault, Loxford, Mayfield, Newbury, Seven Kings, South Woodford and Wanstead Village from 8 April 2024, ceasing 7 April 2029. Selective licensing applies to properties let to a single person, two people, or a single household. The council publishes interactive maps for each scheme - use those, because Redbridge's own guidance documents have described the coverage in more than one way.
Fees, and the small accreditation discount
For applications between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027, a selective licence is £997.69 - £371.05 on submission plus £626.64 on grant, reduced to £591.64 for accredited landlords. HMO licences run from £1,865.34 for two households up to £2,728.51 for ten or more, with a £696.14 first stage in every case. Paper applications cost an extra £139.23, and an optional pre-application property visit is £477. Fees rise each April, so budget from the current year's table.
Two conditions people miss
First, a selective licence requires an EPC in bands A to E - an F or G rated property cannot simply be licensed as it stands. Second, accreditation training such as LLAS is required within eighteen months of the licence being granted; it's a condition of the licence, not an optional extra, and breaching a licence condition is an offence in itself. Licences run five years from the submission date, and there's no refund if you sell or stop letting.
Article 4 applies to small HMOs
Redbridge has an Article 4 direction removing permitted development rights for C4 small HMOs, so converting a family house to a three- to six-person share needs planning permission. Licensing and planning are assessed separately - a licence doesn't cure a planning breach. And while unlicensed, you cannot serve a valid section 21 notice, and tenants can reclaim up to twelve months' rent through a rent repayment order.
Check your ward on Redbridge's interactive property licensing maps and verify current fees on its landlord licensing pages. Illustrative guide - designations and fees change; general information, not legal advice.
Renewal tracked from expiry, reminders from 60 days out, proof of service to tenants logged. Knows the 2-month early-renewal rule that keeps your date fixed.
Five years goes quicker than you think. Kept remembers so you don't have to - including the 28-day duty to give tenants a copy.
Expiry tracked from the certificate details you confirm - band E is the current minimum for most domestic private lets unless exempt, and proposed changes are flagged only when they become law.
30-day protection window tracked from the day the money lands - not the tenancy date - with prescribed information logged.
Check dates and follow-up dates for time-limited permissions, stored against each tenant.
Smoke alarms every storey, CO alarms where required, checked and dated at the start of every tenancy.
A one-off duty for tenancies that existed on 1 May 2026. Who was served, when, and how - the £7,000 question, answered with a dated record.
Preparation and export support for the future official registration process - clearly marked as planned.
Additional HMO licensing (3-4 occupants): YES - borough-wide to 17 Sep 2028. See the local picture above - every other duty applies exactly as it does nationwide.
Add a postcode and Kept resolves the council, location and local context automatically.
Planned preparation and export support for the government's regional PRS Database rollout.