HMO and selective licensing in Newham Council

Three kinds of property licence can apply to a privately rented home in Newham. A mandatory HMO licence is required anywhere in England for a large HMO — one shared by five or more people from two or more households. On top of that, Newham runs two borough-wide schemes, both covering every ward except Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park: an additional HMO scheme, in force since 1 January 2023, that licenses smaller shared houses let to three or four people from two or more households; and a selective scheme, in force since 1 June 2023, that licenses ordinary privately rented homes let to a single household or to one or two people. So across almost all of the borough, most privately rented homes need a licence of one kind or another.^[14]

Whatever Newham 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.^[19]

Newham keeps a public register of the property licences it grants, but its online register is offline for development work, so you cannot currently search it by address. The council publishes downloadable PDF registers of licensed HMOs and of selective licences, and will arrange access to the full register at its offices on request. 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.^[16]

1. Check which scheme covers the address. Newham's property licence register (opens in new tab)^[16]
2. Ask the licensing team in writing. email Newham's Property Licensing Team. Give the exact address and the dates you rented, and ask whether a licence, an application or a temporary exemption covered them. Councils must keep a register of licences, temporary exemption notices and management orders and make it available for inspection, so that duty holds while the online register is down — a dated written answer is the record to keep.^[20]
3. Treat a "no licence" answer as a starting point. A missing entry is a reason to investigate, not proof of an offence, so ask which scheme applied on your dates and whether anything covered the property.^[23]
4. Report it if you think it should be licensed. Report a home you believe should be licensed to Newham's Property Licensing Team using the council's online form, or by email to propertylicensing@newham.gov.uk.^[17] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

A Newham licence carries the management conditions the Housing Act 2004 requires — gas and electrical safety, working alarms, proper tenancy management and refuse arrangements — and the council checks compliance through document audits and inspections of licensed properties. They let a renter separate two questions: whether the property needed a licence at the time, and whether it met those conditions once licensed.^[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 property licensing guide lists them in full.^[21]
• 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, additional HMO and selective licensing all operate in Newham, so which applies turns on the property and where it is. Both borough-wide schemes have run since 2023 — additional HMO licensing since 1 January 2023 and selective licensing since 1 June 2023 — everywhere except the Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park wards.^[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. email Newham's Property Licensing Team. Ask Newham Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[17]
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.^[23]
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.^[24] 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.