Lambeth Selective Licensing Wards: Phase 1, Phase 2 and Exempt Areas

Lambeth's selective licensing scheme covers 23 of the borough's 25 electoral wards, rolled out in two phases. The two wards left out — Vauxhall and Waterloo & South Bank — are exempt from selective licensing entirely, though HMO licensing rules still apply there if the property qualifies.

Phase 1 Wards (Live Since 2 September 2024)

Phase 1 covers four wards in the south of the borough, running for five years until 1 September 2029:

• Knights Hill
• Streatham Common & Vale
• Streatham Hill East
• Streatham St. Leonard's

Landlords in these wards who let to a single household or up to two unrelated sharers should already have a selective licence. Applications that haven't been submitted are now over two years overdue, and the council is actively pursuing enforcement.

Phase 2 Wards (Live Since 1 September 2025)

Phase 2 brought nineteen more wards into the scheme, running until 31 August 2030:

• Brixton Acre Lane
• Brixton North
• Brixton Rush Common
• Brixton Windrush
• Clapham Common & Abbeville
• Clapham East
• Clapham Park
• Clapham Town
• Gipsy Hill
• Herne Hill & Loughborough Junction
• Kennington
• Myatt's Field
• Oval
• St. Martin's
• Stockwell East
• Stockwell West & Larkhall
• Streatham Hill West & Thornton
• Streatham Wells
• West Dulwich

Early applications opened on 1 August 2025, a month before the scheme went live. The Cabinet Member for Safer Communities approved Phase 2 on 15 May 2025 without Secretary of State sign-off, after a 23 December 2024 change removed that requirement for schemes covering more than 20% of an area or its private rented stock.

The Two Exempt Wards

Vauxhall and Waterloo & South Bank are not covered by selective licensing. If you let a single-family home or a property with two unrelated sharers in either of these wards, no selective licence is required.

But the exemption only applies to selective licensing. If the property qualifies as an HMO — three or more unrelated people forming two or more households — it still needs an additional or mandatory HMO licence under the borough-wide HMO schemes.

Checking Your Ward

Ward boundaries were redrawn in recent boundary reviews, so properties near the edge of two wards need careful checking. A postcode on a boundary street might fall in a different ward from the one you expect.

Lambeth's ward checker tool on lambeth.gov.uk lets you look up a specific address to confirm which ward it sits in and whether selective licensing applies. Avoid relying on postcode alone — enter the full property address.

Different Start Dates Mean Different Enforcement Windows

The distinction between Phase 1 and Phase 2 matters for enforcement. Phase 1 wards have been live since September 2024, meaning landlords who haven't applied are already exposed to the full penalty framework: up to £40,000 per offence under the post-May 2026 Renters' Rights Act rules, plus rent repayment orders of up to 24 months.

Phase 2 wards became enforceable on 1 September 2025. The practical grace period for new applications has passed, and the council's enforcement team is scaling up compliance checks across all 23 designated wards.

Our Lambeth landlord licensing guide maps every ward to its phase and start date, with the decision logic to work out whether your specific property needs a selective, additional or mandatory HMO licence based on address, occupancy and household count.

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