Tower Hamlets Additional HMO Licensing: Who Needs It and How It Works

Tower Hamlets designated its entire borough for additional HMO licensing on 25 October 2023. The scheme came into force on 1 April 2024 and runs until 31 March 2029. If you let a property to three or four people who form two or more separate households, you now need a licence — and the fees went up sharply in April 2026.

Who Falls Under the Additional Scheme

Under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004, the additional licensing scheme lowers the threshold below the national mandatory HMO standard. Where mandatory licensing catches properties with five or more occupants, additional licensing catches the smaller shared houses that were previously unlicensed:

• Three occupants, two or more households — needs an additional HMO licence
• Four occupants, two or more households — needs an additional HMO licence
• Five or more occupants, two or more households — falls under mandatory HMO licensing instead (higher threshold, separate fee schedule)

A "household" under Section 258 means family members: a cohabiting couple counts as one household. Three unrelated friends sharing a flat form three separate households. A couple and one lodger form two households with three occupants — that triggers the additional scheme.

Common Scenarios That Trip Landlords Up

The bedsit conversion. You own a house split into bedsit rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom. Three tenants from different families occupy three rooms. That's an additional HMO. If the building is converted into self-contained flats, check whether the conversion failed to comply with Building Regulations 1991 or later standards and whether less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied; those are the Section 257 criteria.

The lodger who makes three. A couple renting your flat takes in a friend. They've gone from one household (exempt) to two households with three occupants. The property becomes an additional HMO the moment the third person moves in. There is no notice period or grace window.

The post-selective confusion. Your Whitechapel property held a selective licence that expired in September 2026. If the tenants are a single family or just two sharers, no licence is currently required. But if the occupancy configuration meets the three-or-more, two-household threshold, the borough-wide additional scheme already applies.

What the Licence Costs

The council approved a fee schedule effective 1 April 2026. For an additional HMO licence applied for online:

• Part A (application processing): £618.00
• Part B (licence grant): £705.00
• Total base fee: £1,323.00
• Habitable room surcharge: £68.50 per room (bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms — not kitchens, bathrooms or hallways)
• Missing document charge: £157.50 per incomplete item

For a three-bedroom flat with one living room, that's four habitable rooms at £68.50 each — £274.00 on top of the base — bringing the total to £1,597.00.

The £47.50 instalment surcharge applies when the Part A or Part B amount is split into additional instalments; pay each at its stated due time. Submitting by post instead of online costs even more: £1,550.50 base before room surcharges.

How Long the Licence Lasts

Tower Hamlets HMO licences can have three-year or five-year terms; check the expiry date stated on your licence. The additional scheme designation itself runs until 31 March 2029.

Renewal applications should be submitted three to four weeks before your licence expires. If you submit a valid renewal before expiry, statutory bridging provisions allow you to keep operating lawfully while the council processes it.

The Tower Hamlets Landlord Licensing Guide covers the full application walkthrough — every portal step, every document, the fee breakdown with worked examples, and a compliance checklist for tracking conditions over the licence term.

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