HMO and selective licensing in Hackney Council

Since 1 May 2026, Hackney has run borough-wide additional HMO licensing for shared homes occupied by three or four people from two or more households. Its selective scheme started the same day and covers 17 of the borough's 21 wards, with four excluded; the coverage list below names the wards inside the scheme. Both designations were made in late 2025 and are intended to run for five years, with the selective designation published as ceasing on 30 April 2031.^[14]

Whatever Hackney 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.^[18]

Hackney's selective scheme covers these wards:^[14]

• Brownswood
• Cazenove
• Clissold
• Dalston
• De Beauvoir
• Hackney Central
• Hackney Downs
• Hackney Wick
• Homerton
• King's Park
• Lea Bridge
• London Fields
• Shacklewell
• Springfield
• Stamford Hill West
• Stoke Newington
• Victoria

Hackney publishes an online property-licensing register, and its guidance for private tenants gives a direct property-licensing email address. Pair the register search with a written query naming the address, the scheme you think applies and your tenancy dates, and keep both the search result and the reply.^[16]

1. Open the official register. Open register (opens in new tab)^[16]
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.^[19]
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.^[22]
4. Report or ask in writing. property.licensing@hackney.gov.uk. Hackney asks tenants to report a suspected unlicensed home to its property-licensing team by email.^[15] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Hackney's licensing pages set out which licence each type of property needs and give the property-licensing team's email for questions about a specific licence. For a shared home, compare the permitted occupancy and any conditions on the licence entry with who actually lives there, and raise a missing alarm or an overcrowded room as a condition issue as well as a licensing query.^[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.^[20]
• 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.

For a Hackney case, first place the address: is it in one of the 17 selective wards, or does the occupancy make it a smaller HMO under the borough-wide additional scheme? The four excluded wards are still inside additional licensing, so household make-up can be decisive there too. Compare each occupier's move-in date with the 1 May 2026 start.^[14][16]

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. property.licensing@hackney.gov.uk. Ask Hackney Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[15]
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.^[22]
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.^[23] 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.