Lewisham Selective Licensing: What Private Landlords Need to Know

Lewisham introduced selective licensing on 1 July 2024, and if you let a single-household property or a two-sharer flat in one of the borough's 16 designated wards, you need a licence. The scheme runs for five years and expires on 30 June 2029.

What Lewisham's Selective Licensing Scheme Covers

Selective licensing under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 targets properties let to a single household or two unrelated sharers. It sits alongside two other schemes that run concurrently in the borough:

• Mandatory HMO licensing — borough-wide, permanent, for properties with five or more occupants from two or more households.
• Additional HMO licensing — borough-wide, 22 April 2022 to 21 April 2027, for three- or four-person HMOs.
• Selective licensing — 16 of 18 wards, 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2029, for single-household and two-sharer lets.

HMO licensing displaces selective licensing. If a property qualifies for a mandatory or additional HMO licence, it does not also need a selective licence.

Which Wards Are Covered

The 16 designated wards are grouped across three designation notices:

• Designation 1: Brockley, Catford South, Lewisham Central, New Cross, Perry Vale, Rushey Green
• Designation 2: Crofton Park, Evelyn, Ladywell, Lee Green, Sydenham
• Designation 3: Bellingham, Downham, Forest Hill, Grove Park, Whitefoot

Blackheath and Telegraph Hill are excluded. Properties in those two wards do not need a selective licence — though HMO licensing still applies borough-wide if occupancy thresholds are met.

The boundaries follow the pre-May 2022 ward map, not the current electoral wards. Lewisham's GIS address checker on the council website confirms whether a specific address falls inside a designated area.

Fees and Discounts

The standard selective licence fee is £640 per property, split into two payments:

Landlords accredited with the NRLA or the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme qualify for a discount on the Part B fee: £352 instead of £480, bringing the total to £512. Part A stays at £160.

Part A is non-refundable for refusals based on incomplete documents, fit-and-proper failures, or planning enforcement. A full refund applies if the property was not legally subject to licensing when the application was submitted. An incomplete or incorrect submission risks losing the fee, so check documents and certificates before you pay.

The Application Route

All applications go through the MetaStreet portal at lewisham.metastreet.co.uk. You create an account, enter the property postcode, upload your compliance documents (EICR, gas safety certificate, EPC), declare interested parties, pay the Part A fee and submit.

Once Part A is paid and the application is complete, it reaches "duly made" status. That matters: a duly-made application protects you from prosecution for unlicensed letting while the council processes it.

Key Dates

Individual licences last up to five years from the date of grant. If a licence extends past the scheme's June 2029 expiry, it remains valid until its own stated end date.

What Happens Without a Licence

Operating without a licence in a designated ward is a criminal offence under section 95 of the Housing Act 2004. Under the Renters' Rights Act framework, civil penalties can reach £40,000 for serious or repeat contraventions. Rent repayment orders can cover up to 12 months of rent under the existing framework, extending to 24 months under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 framework.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 phases out Section 21 evictions; licensing status continues to affect a landlord's ability to recover possession under the applicable rules.

Next Steps

If your property is in one of the 16 designated wards and let to a single household or two sharers, apply through the MetaStreet portal. If you are unsure whether your property falls within scope, use the council's GIS address checker first — the pre-2022 ward boundaries mean some addresses sit in a different ward than current maps suggest.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of the application, documents, fees and ongoing conditions, the Lewisham Landlord Licensing Guide covers the full process from address check to licence grant.

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