Haringey Additional Licensing: Rules for Smaller HMOs and Section 257 Buildings

What Haringey's Additional Licensing Scheme Covers

Haringey's additional HMO licensing scheme came into force on 17 June 2024 and runs borough-wide until 16 June 2029. It picks up the smaller shared properties that fall below the mandatory HMO threshold — specifically, properties occupied by three or four people from two or more separate households who share amenities.

The previous additional licensing scheme expired, and the council designated this replacement under Section 56 of the Housing Act 2004 following a Mayor and Cabinet decision on 12 March 2024. Unlike the selective licensing scheme (limited to 14 wards), additional licensing applies to every ward in Haringey.

This scheme also pulls in Section 257 converted buildings — older buildings split into self-contained flats where the conversion doesn't meet the Building Regulations 1991 standard and fewer than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. If you own the freehold or manage the common parts of a building that fits that description, you need an additional HMO licence for the building as a whole.

Who Needs This Licence

The trigger is straightforward: three or four unrelated occupants sharing a kitchen, bathroom, or living space in the same property. A "household" under the Housing Act 2004 means a single person, a couple, or a family unit. Three friends sharing a flat are three separate households — that's an additional HMO licence.

Properties with five or more people from two or more households fall under mandatory HMO licensing instead, which carries a higher fee.

Here's where it catches landlords off guard: if a couple moves in with one friend, that's two households (the couple plus the friend) but only three occupants. If the flat is in any Haringey ward, the property needs an additional HMO licence. Many landlords assume that three-person occupancy with a couple involved doesn't count as an HMO — it does.

Fees and Discounts

For 2026/27, the additional HMO licence fee is £1,411.68, split into Part A (approximately £641.48 on application) and Part B (approximately £770.20 on licence approval). That's the same as the mandatory HMO fee and a 3.8% increase from the 2025/26 charge of £1,360.

Discounts: £51.90 off Part A for accredited landlords (London Landlord Accreditation Scheme or equivalent), and £51.90 off Part B for properties rated EPC Band C or above. Both stack to save £103.80.

Application Requirements

The Metastreet portal at propertylicensing.haringey.gov.uk handles all applications. HMO applications carry heavier documentation requirements than selective licences:

• Gas safety certificate (annual)
• EICR (within five years)
• EPC (minimum Band E)
• Fire risk assessment compliant with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
• Dimensioned floor plans showing room sizes in square metres, fire escape routes, and door positions
• Current tenancy agreements
• Smoke and CO alarm installation proof

The floor plan requirement trips up many applicants. Room measurements must comply with Haringey's space standards — a single bedroom needs at least 6.51 m² (or 10 m² if there's no shared living room), and a double needs at least 10.22 m² (or 15 m² without a shared living room). Any floor area where the ceiling height drops below 1.5 m is excluded from the calculation.

How This Differs from Mandatory HMO Licensing

Both schemes require essentially the same application, the same documents, and the same fees. The distinction is occupancy: mandatory kicks in at five or more people from two or more households, additional covers the three-to-four occupant band. The statutory basis differs too — mandatory licensing is a national regime under Section 55 with no expiry, while additional licensing is a local designation Haringey has set to run through 16 June 2029.

If your property's occupancy fluctuates — say tenants move in and out — the licensing duty can shift between schemes. A four-person HMO that gains a fifth tenant crosses into mandatory territory. Submit a licence variation request to report the occupancy change; Haringey will tell you if a different licence type is required. Monitoring occupancy is part of ongoing compliance.

The Haringey Landlord Licensing Guide walks through the occupancy tests, fee calculations, and portal submission for all three schemes in order.

See more England guides →