How to Apply for a Hackney HMO Licence Without a Letting Agent

You can apply for a Hackney HMO licence entirely on your own. The council's online portal is open to any landlord — there is no requirement to go through a letting agent. Once your documents are ready, applying yourself avoids the £350–£1,200 that an agent would charge on top of the council fee.

The reason many landlords assume they need an agent is that the council's information is spread across portal pages, Google Docs, and designation notices with no single step-by-step guide on the council site. That makes the process look harder than it is. In reality, it's an online form with document uploads and a two-part fee payment — and you can prepare everything offline before you log in.

Before You Start: Confirm Which HMO Licence You Need

Hackney runs two HMO licensing schemes:

• Additional HMO licensing (borough-wide): your property has 3–4 persons forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom, or toilet. The fee is £1,400 (£840 Part A + £560 Part B).
• Mandatory HMO licensing (borough-wide): your property has 5 or more persons forming 2 or more households who share facilities. The fee is also £1,400 (£840 Part A + £560 Part B).

Both are borough-wide — they apply in all 21 Hackney wards, including the four wards excluded from selective licensing.

The critical distinction is the household count, not the bedroom count. Three unrelated professionals sharing a two-bedroom flat on a joint tenancy form three separate households under section 258 of the Housing Act 2004. That makes the flat an HMO requiring an additional licence, even though the tenancy agreement names them jointly. A couple and their child sharing with one other tenant form two households — still an HMO if they share facilities.

If your property has fewer than three persons, or all occupants belong to one household, you may need a selective licence instead (in the 17 designated wards) or no licence at all (in the four excluded wards). The Hackney landlord licensing overview explains the full decision framework.

The Documents You Need to Gather First

Assemble these before you open the portal so you can complete the form and uploads without stopping to find documents.

1. Gas Safety Certificate — current, issued within the past 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. If the property has no gas supply, you'll declare that on the form.

2. Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — valid for 5 years, with a "satisfactory" result. Any outstanding C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous) deficiency codes must be cleared before you apply. An EICR with unresolved C1/C2 codes will stall your application.

3. Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) — rated A to E. Properties rated F or G cannot be legally let unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. An EPC rated B or above gets you a £100 discount on the Part B fee; rated C gets £50 off.

4. Scaled floor plans — showing each room's dimensions in square metres, window areas, and fire escape routes. For HMO applications, these are mandatory. Standard estate agent marketing plans may not include enough detail to establish net usable room area. You need to measure each room yourself, deducting any floor area where the ceiling height is below 1.5 metres (common in Victorian attic conversions) and excluding en-suite facilities and chimney breasts.

5. Fire safety evidence — for HMOs, interlinked smoke alarms on every storey and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a gas or solid fuel appliance. Mandatory HMOs require alarm and emergency-lighting test certificates where those systems are installed; check the licence conditions for any additional HMO evidence requirements.

6. Current tenancy agreement — showing the names of all tenants, the property address, and the tenancy terms.

7. Fit and proper person declaration — you'll complete this on the portal. It asks about criminal convictions, housing enforcement action, banning orders, and any involvement in properties subject to management orders. If you have a managing agent, they must also pass the fit-and-proper test and be named on the application.

The Eight Steps of the Portal Application

Once your documents are ready:

Step 1 — Create an account on propertylicensing.hackney.gov.uk.

Step 2 — Enter the property address and verify it against the council's database. If the address lookup fails (common with converted flats), contact [email protected] with the full address and UPRN if you have it.

Step 3 — Enter the property layout: number of storeys, rooms, bathrooms, and the declared household composition. This is where the household count matters — declare accurately, because an incorrect declaration can lead to your application being processed under the wrong scheme.

Step 4 — Upload your documents: Gas Safety Certificate, EICR, EPC, floor plans, fire safety evidence, and tenancy agreement. PDF or JPEG format. Name files clearly.

Step 5 — Confirm that you've served written notice of the application on all interested parties — freeholders, mortgage lenders, joint owners, and managing agents. This is a statutory requirement under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 2004, and you must confirm it before the portal lets you proceed.

Step 6 — Complete the fit-and-proper-person declaration and submit the Part A fee (£840). This payment is non-refundable. If you realise after paying that you've applied under the wrong scheme, you lose the Part A fee.

Step 7 — The council reviews your application. You cannot email for progress updates — the portal explicitly states it won't respond to status queries. Hackney's portal says you can continue to let the property while the application is being processed; for an application to be duly made, the required form fields and documents must be complete and Part A paid.

Step 8 — If the council intends to grant the licence, it issues a Notice of Intent with proposed terms. Interested parties have at least 14 calendar days to make representations. After considering them, the council issues its final decision and the Part B invoice (£560). The licence is formally granted, and its conditions become binding, after you pay Part B; individual licences are typically granted for up to five years.

Fee Discounts You Can Claim

These discounts stack. An accredited landlord with an EPC rated B applying for one HMO licence pays £840 Part A + £360 Part B = £1,200 total, saving £200 off the standard £1,400.

Where Self-Managing Landlords Get Stuck

The household count. Three sharers on a joint tenancy equals three households, not one. This catches more Hackney landlords than any other rule. Get the count wrong and you apply for the wrong scheme — or worse, you don't apply at all because you didn't realise the property is an HMO.

Room measurements. Hackney strictly enforces net usable floor space during inspections. If your floor plans show gross area and the inspector measures net usable area below the statutory minimum (6.51 m² per single adult, 10.22 m² for two adults), the room fails. Measure yourself first, applying the 1.5m headroom deduction for any sloped ceiling area.

The Part A fee is non-refundable. If you apply under the wrong scheme, the council keeps the £840. This is the single biggest reason to confirm which scheme applies before you start the application — not during it.

Interested party notifications. If you have a mortgage, you must notify your lender in writing before or on the day you submit. Forgetting this doesn't stop the application from going through the portal, but it breaches a statutory requirement and can be raised later.

Who This Is For

• Self-managing landlords with a shared house or flat in Hackney who want to apply for an HMO licence without paying an agent £350–£1,200
• Landlords with one or two HMO properties who can set aside an afternoon to work through the application
• Owners of Victorian conversions in Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, or Clapton who need to understand the headroom deduction before submitting floor plans
• Landlords who want to understand what they're signing — the fit-and-proper declaration, the licence conditions, and the ongoing compliance requirements

Who This Is NOT For

• Landlords who need a UK-based managing agent appointed on the licence because they live abroad — you'll need to engage an agent to fill that statutory role
• Portfolio landlords with dozens of properties who want batch processing and ongoing compliance management
• Anyone who wants the application filed today and doesn't have time to gather documents — an agent with existing templates may be faster in that specific scenario

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the council treat self-submitted applications differently from agent-submitted ones?

The council's published process describes submission through its licensing portal but does not specify whether applications are prioritized by who submits them.

What if I make a mistake on the portal?

Contact [email protected] before paying Part A if you spot an error. Once Part A is paid and the application is submitted, corrections may require a new application — and a new non-refundable fee.

Can I save a draft on the portal and come back later?

Prepare everything offline first (documents named, room measurements calculated, household composition confirmed) so you can complete the submission without stopping to find information.

How long does the council take to process the application?

Hackney's portal says landlords can continue renting while an application is processed and says it cannot reply to emails asking for progress updates. A duly made application receives a reference number and payment receipt.

Do I need to renew the licence?

Hackney's current selective and additional licensing designations run to 30 April 2031; mandatory HMO licensing is a permanent national requirement. Individual licences are typically granted for up to five years. Submit a renewal through the portal at least 60 days before the licence expires and pay a fresh set of fees — renewal is not automatic.

For the complete step-by-step system — the decision framework, document tracker, room measurement worksheet, fee calculator, and five-year compliance diary — Landlord Licensing in Hackney covers every stage of the HMO licence application.

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