Alternatives to Paying a Letting Agent for Havering Landlord Licensing

If you are looking at a Havering landlord licensing fee of £950 to £1,400 and a letting agent wants another £240–£500 to submit the form, you are right to ask whether there is a cheaper way. There is. The application goes through Havering Council's online portal, and any property owner can submit directly — no intermediary required.

The question is what level of support you need for the submission itself. Here are the realistic alternatives, ranked from least to most expensive, with an honest assessment of what each one does and does not cover for Havering's three-scheme system.

Option 1: The Council Website Alone (Free)

Havering Council publishes its licensing information across designation PDFs, cabinet decision reports, fee schedules and the online portal. You can piece together the application requirements from these public sources without paying anything.

What it covers: the statutory designation notices naming the seven selective wards, the fee tables, the Fit and Proper Person requirements, and the portal login itself.

What it does not cover: the information is spread across multiple pages and static PDFs with no combined workflow. There is no single current guide that combines the live scheme details and fees with a portal-order checklist and all discount routes. A wrong-scheme application can still leave the non-refundable Part A fee (£570–£1,063) lost.

Best for: landlords who are confident they know which scheme applies, have submitted a licensing application before (perhaps in the previous 2021–2026 designation period), and just need the portal link and the fee amount.

Risk: a wrong-scheme submission costs the Part A fee with no refund. For a first-time applicant dealing with three overlapping schemes, the free route saves money upfront but carries the highest error cost.

Option 2: A Step-by-Step Licensing Guide ($29)

A structured guide covers all three Havering licensing schemes in one document, with a decision tree for identifying the correct scheme, the document list in portal order, the fee breakdown with every discount route, and a compliance tracker for the five-year licence term.

The Landlord Licensing in Havering guide is built for self-managing landlords in Havering. It includes six standalone tools — a ward and scheme decision worksheet, a document preparation checklist, a fee calculator, fit and proper person declaration notes, a compliance tracker and a communication log.

What it covers: scheme identification (selective vs additional HMO vs mandatory HMO), ward boundaries, the two-stage Part A/Part B fee split, document requirements in portal submission order, discount routes (£100 accreditation, £75 EPC C+ for selective and additional HMO), post-grant conditions, and the scheme expiry on 17 March 2031.

What it does not cover: it does not submit the application for you, it does not arrange Gas Safety inspections or EICRs, and it is not legal advice.

Best for: self-managing landlords with one or two properties who want to handle the application themselves, understand the licence conditions, and keep their compliance documents private.

Option 3: National Landlord Association Membership (£37–£90/year)

Joining the NRLA, LLAS, Propertymark or Safeagent gives you access to a legal advice phone line, template library, and general licensing guidance. More practically, approved accreditation qualifies you for a £100 discount on the Part B fee for selective and additional HMO licences.

What it covers: national legal framework, template tenancy agreements, a phone line staffed by housing law advisers, and the accreditation that triggers Havering's discount.

What it does not cover: Havering-specific ward boundaries, the three-scheme decision, the portal walkthrough, or the two-stage fee mechanics. The advice line can answer Housing Act 2004 questions in general but will not check whether your specific property falls inside one of the seven selective wards.

Best for: landlords who want the accreditation discount and ongoing national legal updates alongside a Havering-specific resource. The NRLA membership at £90/year pays for itself through the £100 Part B discount in the first year — but only on selective and additional HMO applications (mandatory HMO carries no discount).

Option 4: A One-Off Council Phone Call or Email (Free)

Havering's Housing Enforcement Team can answer specific questions about your property — for example, confirming which ward it falls in or whether a converted building qualifies as a Section 257 HMO. This is free and authoritative.

What it covers: specific factual questions about your property's licensing status and scheme classification.

What it does not cover: the council will not walk you through the application step by step, check your documents before submission, or tell you about discount routes. They answer the question you ask; they do not manage the process.

Best for: resolving a single specific question — especially for properties near a ward boundary or unusual building types — as a complement to any of the other options.

Option 5: A Licensing Consultant (£300–£500)

A specialist licensing consultant collects your documents, identifies the correct scheme, fills in the portal form and submits with formal authority-to-act documentation. This is the full-service option short of a managed letting agency.

What it covers: end-to-end portal submission, scheme identification, document formatting.

What it does not cover: legal liability (still yours), ongoing compliance after the licence is granted, or arranging the underlying certificates (Gas Safety, EICR, EPC) if they do not already exist.

Best for: landlords who genuinely cannot use the portal, who manage multiple properties across boroughs and need batch processing, or who are time-constrained and willing to pay for delegation.

Option 6: A Full-Service Letting Agent (£240 + ongoing management fees)

Romford-based letting agents like Delaney Properties charge around £240 including VAT for the licensing submission as part of a broader property management package. Some agents tie the licensing service to a fully-managed contract at 14–15% of monthly rent.

What it covers: licensing submission bundled with tenant finding, rent collection, maintenance coordination.

What it does not cover: if you only want the licence submitted and not the ongoing management, you are paying for a bundle you do not need. Separating the licensing submission from the management contract is not always possible, and the agent's fee for licensing alone may match a specialist consultant's.

Best for: landlords who have decided to move from self-management to full agency management anyway, and want the licensing handled as part of that transition.

Comparison Summary

Who This Is For

• Self-managing landlords in Havering looking for the most cost-effective way to handle their licensing application
• Accidental landlords who inherited a rented property and are facing licensing for the first time
• Buy-to-let investors with a single Havering property who want to avoid ongoing agent fees
• Landlords who used an agent for a previous licensing period and want to self-submit this time

Who This Is NOT For

• Portfolio landlords with properties across multiple boroughs who need a managed compliance platform
• Landlords already using a full-service letting agent who handles licensing as part of the management fee
• Property owners in an active enforcement investigation who need a solicitor, not a compliance resource

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it risky to submit the application myself without any help?

The main risk is selecting the wrong scheme. Havering's three overlapping schemes — selective in seven wards, additional HMO borough-wide, mandatory HMO borough-wide — mean the scheme identification step requires knowing your property's ward, occupancy count and household structure. If you get that right, the portal form itself is straightforward. A structured guide or a council phone call can resolve the scheme question for the price of a fraction of a consultant's fee.

Can I combine options — for example, buy a guide and also join the NRLA?

Yes, and for selective or additional HMO applications this combination often makes the most sense. The guide handles the Havering-specific application process. The NRLA membership gives you accreditation for the £100 Part B discount. The discount more than covers the membership fee in the first year.

What if I get partway through the portal and realise I need help?

You can save a draft on Havering's portal and come back to it. If you get stuck on a specific question — for example, whether a property with two tenants on separate tenancy agreements counts as two households — you can call the council's licensing team, check a guide, or contact a consultant for a one-off answer without paying for the full submission service.

Does the council prefer applications from agents over direct applications?

No. The council processes applications based on the property's compliance and the applicant's status, not on who submits the form. A direct submission from the property owner is treated identically to one submitted by a letting agent or consultant.

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