HMO and selective licensing in Croydon Council

Two further schemes come into force on 25 September 2026: a borough-wide additional HMO scheme, covering smaller HMOs shared by three or more people from two or more households, and selective licensing for privately rented homes in 14 wards, listed below. Both designations were made in March 2026 to start on 1 September 2026, and a public notice published on 9 July 2026 amended the commencement date of both to 25 September 2026, leaving the designated areas unchanged. Licence applications open the same day, so until then only a mandatory HMO licence can be required in Croydon.^[12]

Whatever Croydon designates locally, a large HMO shared by at least five people from more than one household needs a mandatory licence anywhere in England. The property licensing guide sets out the national tests that sit behind every local scheme.^[20]

Croydon's selective scheme will cover these 14 wards from 25 September 2026:^[12]

• Addiscombe East
• Addiscombe West
• Bensham Manor
• Broad Green
• Fairfield
• Norbury and Pollards Hill
• Norbury Park
• Selhurst
• South Croydon
• South Norwood
• Thornton Heath
• Waddon
• West Thornton
• Woodside

Croydon links to an online public register of property licences, searchable by address. A missing entry is a reason to ask the licensing team in writing, not proof of an offence: an application or an exemption may have covered the dates you rented. Keep the council's written confirmation of when any designation legally applied; a later register entry cannot settle an earlier period by itself.^[17]

1. Open the official register. Open register (opens in new tab)^[17]
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.^[21]
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.^[24]
4. Report or ask in writing. Report an unlicensed HMO (opens in new tab). Croydon provides a dedicated online form for reporting a suspected unlicensed HMO.^[18] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Croydon's HMO standards require adequate fire precautions and means of escape, adequate kitchen and bathroom amenities, adequate space without overcrowding, and proper management, alongside the owner's duty to maintain supplies, common areas, lighting, windows and refuse storage. They let a renter separate two questions: whether the property needed a licence at the time, and whether the physical layout and shared facilities met Croydon's standards once licensed.^[19]

• 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 property licensing guide lists them in full.^[22]
• 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.

Mandatory HMO licensing is the only scheme operative in Croydon until 25 September 2026; the wider schemes cannot be breached before then. Timing decides the answer: the designations named 1 September 2026 before the amending notice moved them, so if your letting runs through September 2026, ask the licensing team in writing which date applied to your address.^[12][17]

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. Report an unlicensed HMO (opens in new tab). Ask Croydon Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[18]
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.^[24]
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.^[25] 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.