Blackheath and Telegraph Hill: Why These Lewisham Wards Are Exempt from Selective Licensing

Lewisham's selective licensing scheme covers 16 of the borough's 18 wards. The two excluded wards are Blackheath and Telegraph Hill, with partial exclusions in Blackheath based on historic boundary splits. If your address falls within an excluded area under the pre-May 2022 ward boundaries, you do not need a selective licence for a single-household let or a two-sharer flat.

But "exempt from selective licensing" does not mean "exempt from all licensing." HMO licensing still applies borough-wide.

Why These Two Wards Are Excluded

When Lewisham consulted on the selective scheme in 2023, it had to demonstrate that each designated area met at least one of the statutory conditions under section 80 of the Housing Act 2004: low housing demand, anti-social behaviour, poor property conditions, high deprivation, high migration or high crime. The council's evidence assessment found that Blackheath and Telegraph Hill fell below the threshold on the metrics used during the baseline assessment.

The exclusion is specific to this designation. If Lewisham renews or expands the scheme after June 2029 (the current scheme's expiry), the evidence base will be reassessed and the excluded wards could be included in a future designation.

HMO Licensing Still Applies

Both the mandatory and additional HMO licensing schemes operate borough-wide. They are not ward-dependent. This means:

• A property in Blackheath or Telegraph Hill occupied by five or more persons from two or more households sharing basic amenities needs a mandatory HMO licence — the same as anywhere in England
• A property occupied by three or four persons from two or more households sharing facilities needs an additional HMO licence under Lewisham's borough-wide scheme (running until April 2027)
• Only single-household lets and two-sharer properties in the excluded areas fall outside the licensing schemes described here

If you have a house share with three or more tenants from two or more households sharing basic amenities in Blackheath, you need an HMO licence. The selective exemption does not protect you.

The Pre-2022 Boundary Problem

The selective licensing designation uses the ward boundaries from before the May 2022 boundary review, not the current electoral map. This matters at the edges of Blackheath and Telegraph Hill:

Blackheath borders Lee Green (Designation 2) and other designated wards. Streets near the old Blackheath–Lee Green boundary may appear in one ward under the current map but fall in the other under the pre-2022 map. A property that shows as "Blackheath" on a modern postcode lookup might actually sit in pre-2022 Lee Green (designated, selective licence required) or vice versa.

Telegraph Hill borders New Cross (Designation 1) and Crofton Park (Designation 2). Similar boundary shifts apply.

The only reliable way to check is the council's GIS address checker on the MetaStreet portal. Generic "which ward am I in" tools use current boundaries and will give misleading results near boundary streets.

What If You Are Not Sure

If the GIS checker does not return a clear result, or if your property sits on a street that was split between wards during the 2022 review, request written confirmation from Lewisham's Private Sector Housing Agency ([email protected], 020 8314 6420). A missing search result on the GIS tool does not constitute a confirmed exemption — you need positive confirmation that the property falls outside the designated area.

If the property does require a licence and you have been operating without one on the assumption of exemption, apply immediately. The Lewisham licensing guide covers the full application process, fees and documents for all three schemes.

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