Catford South Selective Licensing: What Lewisham Landlords Need to Know

Catford South is one of the 16 wards covered by Lewisham's selective licensing scheme, which runs from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2029. It falls under Designation 1 — the first tranche of wards included in the scheme alongside Brockley, Lewisham Central, New Cross, Perry Vale and Rushey Green.

If you let a single-household property or a two-sharer flat in Catford South, you need a selective licence. Properties with three or more occupants from two or more households sharing basic amenities fall under HMO licensing instead, which is borough-wide and not ward-dependent.

Pre-2022 Ward Boundaries Apply

The selective licensing designation uses the ward boundaries that were in place before the May 2022 boundary review. Catford South's pre-2022 boundaries are not identical to the current ward map. If your property sits near the edges — particularly close to Rushey Green, Bellingham or the Catford town centre area — you should verify using Lewisham Council's GIS address checker on the MetaStreet portal rather than relying on a current-boundary postcode lookup.

The address checker is the authoritative tool. A generic "which ward am I in" website that uses current electoral boundaries will give the wrong answer for properties near the old boundary lines.

What the Licence Costs

The selective licence fee is £640, split into two parts:

• Part A (£160) — non-refundable processing fee, paid when you submit the application
• Part B (£480) — paid when the council is ready to grant the licence

Landlords accredited with the NRLA or the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme receive a 20% discount on Part B, reducing the total to £544. Proof of accreditation must be submitted with the application.

Catford South in Context

Catford South has a significant proportion of privately rented housing, which was one of the evidence criteria the council used when designating wards for the scheme. The area includes a mix of Victorian terraced houses, converted flats and purpose-built blocks — the property type matters because it determines whether selective or HMO licensing applies.

A converted house split into flats where the conversion does not comply with building regulations may be classified as a section 257 HMO. In that case, the building itself is excluded from additional HMO licensing, but each individual flat is still assessed on its own occupation — and a single-household flat in Catford South would need a selective licence. See the section 257 explainer for details.

Next Steps

If you own a rental property in Catford South, check your address on the council's GIS portal first. Once confirmed, the application goes through MetaStreet — the Lewisham licensing guide covers the full process from document preparation to licence grant, including the conditions that apply for the five-year licence term.

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