Hammersmith and Fulham Licence Fee Part 1 and Part 2 Explained

Why LBHF Splits the Fee in Two

Hammersmith and Fulham charges property licence fees in two stages. Part 1 covers the council's cost of processing your application. Part 2 covers scheme management and enforcement for the life of the licence. You pay Part 1 when you submit, and Part 2 only after the licence is granted.

This structure matters because the two parts follow different refund rules — and because applying under the wrong licence category means losing your Part 1 payment entirely.

The Fee Split by Licence Type

The ratio between Part 1 and Part 2 varies by scheme:

Selective and Additional HMO licences split 50/50. The standard fee is £755, so Part 1 is £377.50 and Part 2 is £377.50. With the £80 accredited landlord discount (LLAS or NRLA membership), the total drops to £675 — £337.50 per part.

Mandatory HMO licences split 25% Part 1 and 75% Part 2. The 2026/27 base fee for a five-bedroom HMO is £1,656:

• Five-bedroom base: £1,656 total (Part 1: £414, Part 2: £1,242)
• Each additional bedroom adds £183 to the total fee

The accredited discount applies here too, reducing each tier by £80.

What Happens If Your Application Is Refused

If LBHF processes your application and refuses the licence, or determines that the property does not require one, the Part 2 fee is refunded in full. Part 1 is not.

The practical consequence: if you apply under the wrong scheme category (say, selective when you actually need additional HMO), the council rejects the application, keeps Part 1, and asks you to start again with the correct licence type and a fresh Part 1 payment.

When Part 2 Is Invoiced

Part 2 is not collected at the same time as Part 1. After the council processes your application, runs the fit-and-proper-person check and reviews your documents, they issue the licence in draft. The Part 2 invoice follows, and the licence is not formally granted until Part 2 is paid.

Some landlords assume the application is complete after Part 1 clears. It is not. The property remains unlicensed until Part 2 is settled and the final licence is issued.

Avoiding the Wrong-Scheme Trap

The most expensive mistake is submitting under the incorrect licence category. Three or four unrelated sharers in a property anywhere in the borough need an additional HMO licence (£755), not a selective licence. Five or more occupants from two or more households generally trigger mandatory HMO licensing; qualifying purpose-built flats in blocks of three or more self-contained flats fall under LBHF's additional scheme instead. The mandatory base fee is £1,656 for a five-bedroom HMO, with £183 for each additional bedroom. The council does not automatically redirect a misclassified application — it rejects it and keeps Part 1.

Before paying, run through the occupancy test: count tenants, count households, check the address against the 24 selective licensing streets if the property houses a single person, a couple or two unrelated sharers.

The Accreditation Discount

LBHF deducts £80 from the total fee for landlords who hold current accreditation through the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS) or the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). The discount applies to all three licence types and must be claimed at the point of application — you cannot apply it retrospectively.

Compare the discount with the current NRLA membership price before joining. Landlords with multiple properties in the borough may recover the membership cost across several applications.

The Hammersmith and Fulham Landlord Licensing Guide includes a fee calculation worksheet that maps your property's occupancy to the correct licence type and fee tier, including the accreditation discount.

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