HMO and selective licensing in Barnet Council

Barnet's borough-wide additional HMO scheme runs from 27 October 2022 to 27 October 2027 and covers HMOs occupied by at least three people from two or more households, including certain converted blocks within the statutory category. Barnet does not operate selective licensing, and a consultation is not an active designation, so an ordinary single-household let needs no local licence while a three-person flat-share generally does. Check the scheme against your own tenancy dates: the current designation expires in October 2027, and a renewal would need a fresh designation.^[11]

Whatever Barnet designates locally, a large HMO shared by at least five people from more than one household needs a mandatory licence anywhere in England. The London licensing guide sets out the national tests that sit behind every local scheme.^[15]

Barnet links to its public HMO licensing register from the council's main property-licensing page. Search the building as well as an individual flat where the property is a converted block, because the additional designation can include a statutory converted-building category. The HMO team can confirm how the address is recorded.^[11]

1. Open the official register. HMO register page (opens in new tab)^[11]
2. Search the exact address. Save a dated screenshot or download of the result. Councils must keep a register of licences, temporary exemption notices and management orders and make it available for inspection.^[16]
3. Ask about applications and exemptions. A missing entry is a reason to investigate, not proof of an offence, so ask whether a licence, application or exemption covered the dates you rented there.^[19]
4. Report or ask in writing. hmos@barnet.gov.uk. Barnet asks tenants to report an unlicensed HMO to its HMO licensing team by email or telephone.^[13] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Barnet requires supporting safety certificates and publishes HMO standards covering occupancy, amenities, management and fire precautions. Its application route asks for documents about gas, electrics, alarms and property management. Tenants can compare those requirements with the licence entry, the number of occupants and the actual escape route, while reporting an immediate hazard separately.^[14]

• National conditions are the floor. Every licence carries the prescribed conditions on gas, electrics, alarms, tenancy terms and waste, and can last up to five years; the London licensing guide lists them in full.^[17]
• Compare the licence with reality. The register entry or licence may identify the manager, the permitted occupancy and property-specific conditions. Check those details against how the home is actually occupied and managed.
• Keep separate evidence of hazards. A licence does not establish continuing compliance. Report disrepair or an immediate safety risk separately, and keep photographs, messages and certificates.

Barnet's additional designation is borough-wide, so the practical question is whether the property and occupancy met the HMO definition during the alleged period, including whether a converted building falls within the scheme's category. Note each occupier and household relationship, and give the HMO team the building layout as well as the address.^[11]

1. Confirm the scheme and dates. Match the address, occupancy and rental period to the designation in force at the time.
2. Ask the council in writing. hmos@barnet.gov.uk. Ask Barnet Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[13]
3. Check the legal position. An application, an exemption, a reasonable excuse or the identity of the person legally responsible (the "person managing or controlling" the property) can all affect whether an offence is proved.^[19]
4. Preserve the evidence. Keep the tenancy, rent payments, proof of occupation, dated searches and council correspondence.

For a licensing offence committed on or after the 1 May 2026 rule change, a tenant can ask the First-tier Tribunal for up to two years' rent, and normally has two years from the offence to apply. The tenant must prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt, and the tribunal decides any award from the statutory factors and evidence; recovery is never automatic.^[20] Older offence periods may be governed by earlier limits. Free housing advice is available from Shelter and Citizens Advice, and local law centres can help with tribunal cases.