How to Apply for a Tower Hamlets HMO Licence Without a Letting Agent

You do not need a letting agent to apply for an HMO licence in Tower Hamlets. The council's online portal is designed for direct submission by property owners, and the application questions are the same regardless of who fills them in. The key to a successful self-submission is preparation: gathering every document before you start the portal's 90-day draft timer, calculating your fees accurately, and understanding which scheme applies to your property.

Letting agents charge £350–£600 plus VAT for full application handling. That fee pays for someone else's time using the council's process. The council's published processing time is up to 12 months. If you can set aside an afternoon to prepare your documents and 30–45 minutes to work through the portal, you can submit a complete application yourself.

Before You Touch the Portal

The single biggest mistake self-submitting landlords make is starting the portal application before all their documents are ready. Tower Hamlets deletes draft applications that are not submitted within 90 days of initiation. If you start an application, realise you are missing your floor plan or a safety certificate, and take too long to obtain it, you lose everything you entered and start from scratch.

Prepare everything offline first. The portal is the last step, not the first.

Step 1: Confirm Which Scheme Applies

Tower Hamlets currently operates two HMO licensing schemes:

Mandatory HMO licensing (national, under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004) applies to a property occupied by five or more people forming two or more separate households who share basic amenities. The former three-storey criterion was removed in 2018. This is a national requirement — it applies everywhere in England, not just Tower Hamlets.

Additional HMO licensing (borough-wide, under Part 2 with local designation) applies to HMOs occupied by three or four people forming two or more separate households who share basic amenities, subject to statutory exemptions such as the resident-landlord exemption. Tower Hamlets designated this scheme borough-wide, running until 31 March 2029. The fees increased by 75% in April 2026 — the online fee is £1,323 before the £68.50-per-habitable-room surcharge.

The selective licensing scheme that covered Weavers, Whitechapel, Spitalfields, and Banglatown expired on 30 September 2026. If your property is a single-household let in one of those wards, you no longer need a licence. If it houses three or four people from two or more households who share basic amenities, it falls under the additional scheme regardless of ward unless a statutory exemption applies; five or more fall under mandatory HMO licensing.

Step 2: Gather Your Documents

The council will ask for all of these during the portal application. Have them ready as digital files before you log in:

• Gas safety certificate (CP12) — current, issued within the last 12 months
• Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — satisfactory, valid for five years
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) — valid for ten years, minimum rating E
• Floor plan — annotated with room dimensions in square metres, ceiling heights of at least 2.14m over at least 75% of the floor area, and fire safety equipment locations. The council charges £40 per hour for floor plan corrections, so measure accurately
• Fire safety risk assessment — identifying escape routes, alarm positions, and fire door locations
• Proof of ownership — Land Registry title or mortgage statement
• Fit-and-proper person declaration — for you and any proposed property manager. The council reviews relevant convictions, discrimination judgments, housing-law breaches, and management orders
• Tenant information — names, room allocations, and household composition (who lives where, and whether they form separate households)

Step 3: Calculate Your Fees

Tower Hamlets splits licensing fees into two parts:

Part A (application processing fee) is paid when you submit. Part B (licence grant fee) is paid after the council reviews the application and issues an Intention Notice, before the final licence is issued. The published fee information lists a £47.50 surcharge for split payments; check the council's current payment instructions for when it applies.

For additional HMO licences (the most common type for self-managing landlords), the online fee is £1,323 as of April 2026, before the £68.50 charge for each habitable room. The online mandatory HMO fee is £977 before the same per-room charge.

Calculate your total before you start. The fee depends on which scheme applies, how many habitable rooms the property has, and whether you pay in one instalment or two.

Step 4: Submit Through the Portal

With documents ready and fees calculated, the portal submission itself takes 30–45 minutes. The council portal walks you through sections covering property details, applicant information, property management arrangements, document uploads, and payment.

Key things to watch:

• Save your draft regularly — the portal can time out during long sessions
• Upload every document at the relevant prompt — do not plan to "add it later"
• Print or save your submission confirmation and payment receipt — an application is duly made only after the council has received and validated all required information, documents, and the Part A fee. A duly made application awaiting a decision can provide a defence to an RRO claim; a draft or incomplete submission does not establish that defence. A valid renewal submitted before the existing licence expires has statutory bridging protection
• Note your application reference number — you will need it for all correspondence with the council

After Submission: What Happens Next

The council acknowledges receipt and begins processing. Current processing times are up to 12 months. During this period:

• The council maintains a public register of licences
• Follow any conditions in the draft licence and, once granted, throughout the licence term
• Report changes relevant to the application or licence to the council
• The council may inspect the property before granting the licence

Common Mistakes That Cost Money

Missing the household test. The additional HMO scheme covers three or four people from two or more households who share basic amenities, subject to statutory exemptions; five or more people from two or more households fall under mandatory HMO licensing. Two couples sharing a flat is four people from two households — licensable under the additional scheme. Three friends sharing is three people from three households — licensable under the additional scheme. A couple and one lodger is three people from two households — licensable under the additional scheme unless the resident-landlord exemption applies. The household count matters more than the headcount.

Confusing Housing Act licensing with planning consent. Tower Hamlets has a borough-wide Article 4 Direction that removes permitted development rights for converting a C3 family dwelling into a C4 small HMO. If you are changing the property's use, you need planning permission as well as a licence. One does not replace the other.

Using modern ward boundaries for selective scheme queries. The expired selective licensing scheme used pre-2014 ward boundaries, not the current electoral wards. If you are checking whether your property was in a selective ward, the modern ward map will give you the wrong answer.

Paying in two instalments without realising the surcharge. The published fee information lists a £47.50 surcharge for split Part A and Part B payments. Part A is due at submission; Part B is due after the Intention Notice and before final licence issue. Check the council's current payment instructions for when the surcharge applies.

Why Some Landlords Still Hire an Agent

Agents make sense in specific situations: if you manage five or more Tower Hamlets properties, the time savings from batch submission add up. If you are overseas and cannot easily navigate a UK government portal, an agent handles the practical logistics. If you acquired a tenanted property with no compliance history and need someone to audit the existing certificates before you apply, an agent's pre-application inspection has real value.

For a single property where you already self-manage, the agent fee is paying for convenience — not for expertise you cannot acquire yourself.

Where a Guide Fits In

The Landlord Licensing in Tower Hamlets guide covers every step outlined above in detail — the scheme decision matrix, the complete document list, fee calculations with worked examples, the nine-step portal walkthrough, floor plan and room standards, the fit-and-proper person test, ongoing licence conditions, and enforcement penalties. It is dated to October 2026, separating current rules from announced future changes.

It is designed for landlords doing exactly this: handling the application themselves, without an agent, and getting it right the first time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need any qualifications to submit my own licence application?

No. The portal is open to any property owner or proposed licence holder. You do not need to be a member of a landlord association, hold a property management qualification, or have prior licensing experience.

What happens if the council rejects my application?

Incomplete submissions can be administratively rejected, with the relevant missing-document charge added to the Part B balance. Follow the council's notice about whether to correct the submission or make a new application.

Can I apply if my property is currently unlicensed and occupied?

Yes — submit a complete application promptly and keep the council's confirmation. A pending application is not itself a licence, but a duly made application awaiting a decision can provide a defence to an RRO claim. The statutory bridging protection for continuous licensing applies to a valid renewal submitted before the existing licence expires; a new application does not resolve past or unrelated enforcement exposure.

How do I know if my floor plan meets the council's standards?

Tower Hamlets requires floor plans showing room dimensions in square metres, ceiling heights, window positions, fire safety equipment, and means of escape. National minimum bedroom sizes are 6.51m² for one person, 10.22m² for two, and 4.64m² for a child under 10; Tower Hamlets' local bedroom standards also apply. A shared kitchen for up to five occupants must be at least 6.0m². The council charges £40 per hour for floor plan corrections — so measure carefully before submitting.

What is the fit-and-proper person test?

The council checks whether you (and any proposed property manager) are a suitable person to hold a licence. It reviews relevant convictions, unlawful discrimination judgments, housing-law breaches, and whether the person controls a property under an Interim or Final Management Order. If concerns arise, the council may require a Basic DBS certificate issued within the previous 12 months.

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