Tower Hamlets Property Licensing Public Register: How to Check

What the Public Register Shows

Tower Hamlets Council maintains a public register of all licensed properties in the borough, as required under the Housing Act 2004. Anyone can search it — tenants, prospective tenants, other landlords, and enforcement officers. The register shows:

• The licensed property address
• The licence holder's name
• The licence type (mandatory HMO, additional HMO, or historical selective)
• The licence number
• The start and expiry dates
• The maximum occupancy permitted

The register is hosted on the Tower Hamlets website and can be searched by address or postcode. It does not always load reliably — landlord forums report frequent timeout errors during peak hours — but it is the official record of licensed status in the borough.

Why Tenants Search the Register

The public register has become a key tool for tenants investigating potential rent repayment order (RRO) claims. Under the Housing Act 2004 (as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025), a tenant in an unlicensed property can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an RRO covering up to 24 months of rent.

The process tenants follow is straightforward: search the register for their address, confirm it does not appear, and use that as evidence to start a tribunal claim. Forums on r/london and r/LegalAdviceUK actively discuss this strategy, and tenant advice services like Shelter and Citizens Advice direct tenants to the register as a first step.

One reported failed RRO claim ended with the tenants ordered to pay the landlord £3,240 in costs. The example was not identified as a Tower Hamlets case, but it shows that an RRO claim is not guaranteed to succeed.

What Landlords Should Check

If you hold an active licence, verify that your property appears correctly on the register. Check:

• The address matches exactly (including flat number)
• The licence dates are correct — particularly the expiry date
• The occupancy limit matches your current tenancy

If your property does not appear or shows incorrect information, contact the Housing Licensing Team at [email protected]. A missing entry could be a processing delay (applications currently take up to 12 months), but it could also leave you exposed to a speculative RRO claim from a tenant who searches and finds nothing.

Pending Applications and the Register

Properties with pending applications — where the Part A fee has been paid and the application accepted as duly made — do not appear on the public register, which records granted licences. 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; it is not the same as a granted licence.

Keep your application submission confirmation, the portal receipt, and your Part A payment record. These are evidence of a duly made application if a tenant challenges you based on a register search.

The Register After Selective Licensing Expired

Since the selective licensing scheme expired on 30 September 2026, properties that held selective licences in the former designated wards (Weavers, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Banglatown) will gradually fall off the register as those licences reach their individual expiry dates. If your property is a single-household let in one of these wards, it no longer needs a licence — the absence from the register is correct.

But if your property in those wards houses three or more persons from two or more households, it now falls under the borough-wide additional HMO scheme and needs a licence regardless of its location. If you have not applied, your address is absent from the register for the wrong reason.

For a step-by-step guide to checking your licensing obligations, submitting a correct application, and maintaining the audit trail that protects you against register-based RRO claims, see our Tower Hamlets Landlord Licensing Guide.

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