Lambeth Licensed Property Register: How to Search and What It Shows

Lambeth Council maintains a public register of every licensed property in the borough — selective, additional HMO and mandatory HMO. Tenants use it to check whether a landlord is licensed. Landlords use it to verify their own licence is live. Prospective buyers use it to understand what obligations come with a property. But the register has quirks that catch people out.

Where to Find It

The public register is online at hmolicensing.lambeth.gov.uk/public-register. It is part of the same Metastreet platform that handles licence applications. You can search by property address, postcode, licence holder name, or licence reference number.

What the Register Shows

Each entry includes:

• The property address.
• The name and address of the licence holder and managing agent.
• The licence reference number.
• The licence start date and expiry date.
• Permitted occupancy limits and room counts (for HMO licences).

For HMO licences, the room count and occupancy limit are particularly useful — they tell you how many people the council has approved the property to house, which is a hard ceiling regardless of what the tenancy agreement says.

Why a Missing Entry Does Not Always Mean Unlicensed

A property that does not appear on the register is not necessarily unlicensed. There are several legitimate explanations:

Pending applications. If a landlord has submitted a duly made application but the council has not yet issued the licence, the property may not appear on the register. Lambeth licence processing takes months — during that period the property has a lawful pending status but no register entry.

Database update delays. Newly issued licences and recently validated applications may not appear immediately on the public-facing register while the database updates.

Exempt properties. Some properties are exempt from licensing: social housing managed by registered providers, university halls of residence under approved codes of practice, resident landlords with no more than two lodgers, and properties let exclusively to family members. These will never appear on the register.

If you are a tenant checking whether your landlord is licensed, a missing entry is worth investigating — but it is not automatic proof of an offence. Ask the landlord for their licence reference number or portal confirmation. If they cannot produce either, and the property is in one of the 23 selective licensing wards (or qualifies as an HMO), that is a different conversation.

For Landlords: Checking Your Own Entry

After your licence is granted and Part B fees are paid, verify that your property appears on the register with the correct details. If the licence holder name, managing agent, or occupancy limits are wrong, apply for a licence variation through the Metastreet portal rather than waiting for the council to notice.

The Lambeth Landlord Licensing Guide explains how to read register entries, what the occupancy limits mean in practice, and how to apply for variations when details change.

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