HMO and selective licensing in Islington Council

Three kinds of property licence can apply to a privately rented home in Islington. A borough-wide additional HMO scheme covers smaller shared houses — those let to three or four people from two or more households — and certain blocks of flats converted without the right building-control sign-off, so a smaller HMO can need a licence anywhere in the borough. Selective licensing covers ordinary privately rented homes — those let to one or two people, or to a single household — in the Finsbury Park, Tollington and Hillrise wards. A further selective scheme extends that to seven more wards from 23 November 2026; landlords in those wards have been able to apply since 7 September 2026, and until it comes into force a home there needs a licence only if one of the other schemes already applies.^[16]

Whatever Islington 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.^[21]

Islington's new selective scheme will cover these seven wards from 23 November 2026:^[16]

• Barnsbury
• Caledonian
• Highbury
• Junction
• Laycock
• Mildmay
• Tufnell Park

Islington keeps a public register of the property licences it has granted, searchable online by postcode. 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 any written confirmation the council gives you of when a scheme applied to your address.^[18]

1. Open the official register. Search Islington's licence register (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.^[22]
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.^[25]
4. Report or ask in writing. Contact Islington's HMO Licensing Team (opens in new tab). Report a home you believe should be licensed to Islington's HMO Licensing Team.^[20] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Islington's HMO licences carry the council's own management standards on top of the national conditions: fire escapes and alarms kept in good order, shared kitchens, bathrooms and other facilities maintained, fixed electrical installations tested at least every five years, a notice naming the manager and how to reach them displayed in the building, and enough bins for refuse. They let a renter separate two questions — whether the property needed a licence at the time, and whether it met those 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.^[23]
• 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.

Whether a licensing offence has been committed in Islington depends on which scheme applied to the address on the dates you rented, and on whether a licence, an application or an exemption covered them.^[16][18]

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. Contact Islington's HMO Licensing Team (opens in new tab). Ask Islington Council 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.^[25]
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.^[26] 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.