HMO and selective licensing in Haringey Council

Haringey's borough-wide additional HMO designation runs from 17 June 2024 to 16 June 2029. Its selective scheme runs from 17 November 2022 to 17 November 2027 in 14 wards; the list below names them, and the formal notice records the full boundary. A smaller shared home can therefore need a licence anywhere in Haringey, while an ordinary single-household rental needs one only inside the selective wards.^[20]

Whatever Haringey 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.^[23]

Haringey's selective scheme covers these wards:^[20]

• Bounds Green
• Bruce Castle
• Harringay
• Hermitage and Gardens
• Noel Park
• Northumberland Park
• Seven Sisters
• South Tottenham
• St Ann's
• Tottenham Hale
• Tottenham Central
• West Green
• White Hart Lane
• Woodside

Haringey provides an online public register for property licences. Pair that search with the formal selective designation if the address is near the edge of one of the 14 wards, or with the borough-wide additional notice for a smaller HMO. Ask the licensing service to confirm pending applications.^[18]

1. Open the official register. Register page (opens in new tab)^[18]
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.^[24]
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.^[27]
4. Report or ask in writing. Report an unlicensed property (opens in new tab). Haringey provides an online reporting route for an unlicensed property and a separate disrepair service for unsafe conditions.^[22] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Haringey's property-licensing guidance and designation material set management, occupation, safety, waste and antisocial-behaviour requirements for licence holders. The borough also runs a dedicated disrepair service. Use that service for damp, electrical danger or a failed repair, and use the licensing report when the problem is the missing licence or a breach of its occupancy and management terms.^[18]

• 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.^[25]
• 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.

Smaller HMOs can fall within the borough-wide additional scheme, while ordinary rentals need selective licences only inside the 14 designated wards. Verify an address against the formal notice, especially near a ward edge. Use the unlicensed-property report for licence status and the separate disrepair route for physical hazards, and ask for confirmation in writing.^[18][20]

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 property (opens in new tab). Ask Haringey Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[22]
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.^[27]
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.^[28] 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.