Tower Hamlets HMO Licence Processing Time and Portal Tips

How Long Does an HMO Licence Take in Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets currently warns applicants that licence processing times extend up to 12 months from submission. The council's Environmental Health and Trading Standards team at 160 Whitechapel Road handles a high volume of applications across both the mandatory HMO scheme (borough-wide, no expiry) and the additional HMO scheme (borough-wide, running until 31 March 2029).

During this processing period, your application has legal protection. Once the council accepts your submission as "duly made" — meaning all required documents and the Part A fee have been received — you are treated as having a pending application. This gives you a statutory defence against prosecution for operating without a licence, provided you submitted before the licensing obligation arose or as soon as reasonably practicable after it.

The important thing is getting the application accepted as duly made. Incomplete submissions — missing certificates, unreadable floor plans, or unpaid fees — are rejected and the clock does not start.

The 90-Day Draft Deletion Rule

The Tower Hamlets online portal enforces an automatic 90-day draft deletion timer. If you start an application but do not submit it within 90 days, the portal erases all your saved data. Every document you uploaded, every field you filled in, every declaration you ticked — gone.

This catches landlords who start the process before they have all their safety certificates ready. If your EICR is booked but three months out, or you are waiting for a gas engineer, do not begin the portal application. Gather everything first, then start and submit in one focused session.

The certificates you need before opening the portal:

• Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) — current, dated within last 12 months
• EICR — valid, no outstanding C1 or C2 defects
• EPC — minimum Grade E
• Fire Risk Assessment
• Scaled floor plans — metric dimensions, ceiling heights, fire door locations

Once all five are in hand, the portal workflow takes about an hour to complete if you have your property details and occupancy figures ready.

Paying in One or Two Parts

Tower Hamlets allows HMO licence fees to be paid in two parts: Part A (application processing) is payable on submission; Part B (licence grant) is due before the final licence is issued.

The online fee paid in full is £977 for a mandatory HMO and £1,323 for an additional HMO. If you pay in two parts, the listed Part A and Part B amounts total £1,037 for a mandatory HMO or £1,405.50 for an additional HMO, before room charges.

To avoid the higher split-payment total, pay the full online fee in one payment if the portal offers that option. If paying in two parts, Part A is due at submission and Part B is due before the final licence is issued.

What Happens While You Wait

During the 12-month processing window:

• A duly made application provides a statutory defence to the licensing offence if it was submitted before the licensing obligation arose or as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards
• The council may contact you to request additional documents or clarification
• Continue meeting statutory safety and management duties, and comply with any existing licence conditions
• Keep the submission receipt and Part A payment record; a pending application is not the same as a granted licence

Keep your submission confirmation email, the portal receipt, and the Part A payment record. These are the documents that prove your duly made status if challenged.

Checking Your Application Status

Tower Hamlets does not provide a real-time application tracker. If you need a status update, contact the Housing Licensing Team at [email protected] or 020 7364 5008. Include your application reference number and property address.

Our Tower Hamlets Landlord Licensing Guide includes a step-by-step portal walkthrough with screenshots, the exact documents you need before starting, and a fee calculator worksheet to map out Part A and Part B payments before you begin.

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