HMO and selective licensing in Royal Borough of Greenwich

Greenwich runs all three property-licensing schemes. Which licence a home needs turns on its type, its address and the dates it was let. The selective scheme follows a designation boundary, not a ward list, so check a specific address on the council's postcode lookup before relying on it.^[16]

Whatever Greenwich 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.^[22]

The three schemes in force^[16]

• Mandatory HMO licensing — borough-wide, for the largest shared houses.
• Additional HMO licensing — borough-wide, 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2028, covering homes shared by three or four people from more than one household, and certain converted blocks of flats (section 257 HMOs).^[16]
• Selective licensing — a designated area in and around Woolwich and Plumstead, 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2027, for homes let to a single household or to two unrelated sharers.^[16]

Greenwich's statutory licence register is reached from the council's own register page. The register itself is an online portal you search by postcode; beside it the council publishes a dated list of currently licensed properties as a download, which is useful for browsing if the portal will not load. Note what the list cannot do: it is a snapshot of live licences, so it will not tell you whether a licence, application or exemption covered the dates you rented. For that, ask the licensing team in writing. Keep their written confirmation of when any designation legally applied; a later register entry cannot settle an earlier period by itself.^[17]

1. Open Greenwich's public register page. Search the 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.^[23]
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.^[26]
4. Report or ask in writing. Report an unlicensed home (opens in new tab). Greenwich provides a route to report a suspected unlicensed HMO or rented home, and says you can report anonymously and need not live in the property.^[20] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Greenwich attaches its own amenity and management conditions to a licence — on how many people a home may hold, kitchen and bathroom provision, fire safety, heating and waste — on top of the national conditions every licence carries. Those conditions double as a yardstick: a renter can measure how a home is actually occupied and equipped against what its licence permits and requires.^[21]

• 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.^[24]
• 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.

Greenwich runs mandatory, additional and selective licensing, so whether a specific home needed a licence turns on its type, its address and the dates you rented it. Match those against Greenwich's three schemes, and ask the licensing team to confirm the position for the address in writing before assuming an offence.^[16][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 home (opens in new tab). Ask Royal Borough of Greenwich whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[20]
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.^[26]
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.^[27] 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.