Do I Need a Landlord Licence in Westminster?

If you rent out a residential property in Westminster, you almost certainly need a licence. The borough operates three overlapping schemes, and between them they cover virtually every ward and every tenancy arrangement. The question is not really whether you need one — it is which one.

The Quick Decision Path

Start with two facts about your property: how many people live there, and which ward it sits in.

One tenant or a couple (single household), or two unrelated sharers: Your property falls under selective licensing if it is in one of the 15 designated wards. Westminster split these into Designation 1 (Abbey Road, Church Street, Harrow Road, Knightsbridge & Belgravia, Little Venice, Maida Vale, Queen's Park, Westbourne) and Designation 2 (Bayswater, Hyde Park, Lancaster Gate, Marylebone, Pimlico North, Regent's Park, West End). If the property is in Pimlico South, St James's or Vincent Square, no selective licence is needed.

Three or four tenants forming two or more households: You need an additional HMO licence. This scheme is borough-wide — all 18 wards, including the three excluded from selective licensing.

Five or more tenants forming two or more households: You need a mandatory HMO licence. Also borough-wide and permanent.

How to Check Your Ward

Do not rely on your postcode. Westminster ward boundaries do not align neatly with postal codes, and a property on a boundary street can fall on either side. Use Westminster's official GIS address lookup tool to confirm your exact ward, and save or screenshot the result as proof.

If the result is ambiguous — the property sits on a boundary or the tool returns unclear data — email [email protected] for a written confirmation before any statutory deadline.

Common Traps

Company lets are not automatically exempt. If the actual occupants use the property as their main home, the property is licensable based on the number of people living there, regardless of whether the tenancy agreement is with a company.

Resident landlords with more than two lodgers need a licence. If you live in the property and let rooms to one or two lodgers, you are exempt. A third lodger tips you into additional HMO licensing.

Converted flats in Section 257 buildings still need individual licences. The building itself is excluded from Westminster's local HMO schemes, but each individual flat that you let to a private tenant still needs its own selective, additional or mandatory licence based on occupancy.

What It Costs

The cheapest licence — selective — runs £995 total, split into Part A (£543, non-refundable, paid at submission) and Part B (£452, charged when the licence is granted). An accredited-landlord discount of £99.50 is deducted from Part B; EPC C and EPC B-or-above discounts are 10% and 20% of Part B.

For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, operating an unlicensed property carries a civil penalty of up to £40,000, and tenants can apply for a rent repayment order covering up to 24 months of rent. The previous limits for earlier offences were £30,000 and 12 months of rent.

The Westminster Landlord Licensing Guide includes the full decision flowchart, fee calculator with discount stacking, and a document-readiness checklist so nothing is missed at submission.

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