Lewisham HMO Licence: Additional and Mandatory Schemes Explained

Lewisham operates two HMO licensing schemes that together cover every shared house and multi-tenant property in the borough, regardless of ward. If three or more unrelated people share facilities in your rental, you need an HMO licence.

Two Schemes, One Borough

Mandatory HMO licensing applies to properties occupied by five or more individuals from two or more households who share basic amenities (kitchen, bathroom or toilet). This is a national scheme under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004, updated by the 2018 Prescribed Description Order. It is permanent and borough-wide — no expiry date.

Additional HMO licensing applies to smaller HMOs: properties occupied by three or four individuals from two or more households sharing amenities. Lewisham's additional scheme is also borough-wide, running from 22 April 2022 until 21 April 2027.

Both schemes apply across all 18 wards, including Blackheath and Telegraph Hill (which are excluded from selective licensing but not from HMO licensing).

Who Counts as a "Household"

The Housing Act 2004 defines a household as members of the same family: married or cohabiting couples (including same-sex partners), parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. Foster children also count as part of the household.

Unrelated individuals — friends, colleagues, students — each form their own household. Three unrelated flatmates mean three households, triggering the additional HMO scheme even though total occupancy is only three.

Fees: Per Lettable Unit

HMO licence fees in Lewisham are charged per lettable unit (each bedroom or room available for exclusive occupation), not per property:

A five-bedroom mandatory HMO at standard rates costs £2,500 total. A three-bedroom additional HMO costs £1,500. The per-unit structure means that larger shared houses pay significantly more than selective-licensed single-household lets (which are £640 flat regardless of size).

The accredited rate saves £100 per unit. For a five-bedroom HMO, that is a £500 reduction. Check the LLAS's current accreditation requirements before applying.

The Three-Person Threshold

Lewisham's additional licensing scheme catches properties that did not need a licence before April 2022. If you let a house or flat to three unrelated tenants who share a kitchen or bathroom, you need an additional HMO licence now — even if the property was previously rented to the same number of people without any licensing requirement.

This also applies to resident landlords with three or more lodgers sharing facilities. One or two lodgers are exempt under Schedule 14; three or more lodgers trigger the additional scheme.

Section 257 Converted Blocks

Lewisham explicitly excludes Section 257 converted blocks from its additional HMO licensing scheme. A Section 257 building is one that was converted into self-contained flats without complying with the Building Regulations 1991 or subsequent applicable regulations, where fewer than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied.

The exclusion applies to the building as a whole. Individual flats within the block are still assessed on their own occupancy: a flat let to three or four sharers needs an additional HMO licence; a flat let to five or more people from two or more households sharing facilities needs a mandatory HMO licence; a flat let to a single household in a designated ward needs a selective licence.

Scheme Expiry: What Happens in April 2027

The additional HMO scheme expires on 21 April 2027. If Lewisham does not renew it, properties that currently need an additional HMO licence will no longer require one — unless their occupancy reaches the five-person mandatory threshold.

Individual licences already granted under the additional scheme remain valid until their stated expiry date, even if that falls after the scheme ends.

The 2024 General Approval (23 December 2024) removed the requirement for councils to seek Secretary of State confirmation for large-scale licensing schemes, making renewal administratively simpler for Lewisham.

Applying for an HMO Licence

Applications go through the MetaStreet portal at lewisham.metastreet.co.uk. The required documents are more extensive than for a selective licence:

• Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) with a satisfactory result
• Gas safety certificate (annual)
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC, minimum grade E)
• Fire risk assessment (written document, reviewed annually)
• Fire alarm and detection testing certificate (BS 5839 Part 6)
• Emergency lighting certificate (where complex escape routes exist)
• Floor plans showing room dimensions in square metres and fire exits

All documents must be valid on the date of submission. An expired gas safety certificate or an EICR older than five years will get the application rejected — and the Part A fee is non-refundable.

For the full document checklist, fee calculator and application walkthrough, the Lewisham Landlord Licensing Guide covers all three schemes step by step.

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