Waltham Forest Shared House Licence: Which Licence for 2, 3 or More Sharers

The Number of Sharers Determines the Licence

Waltham Forest operates three licensing tiers, and the dividing lines are based on how many people live in the property and whether they form separate households. Getting this classification wrong means applying for the wrong licence — or missing the requirement entirely.

Single Let or One Family

A property let to a single person, a couple, or a family (all one household) needs a selective licence if it is in one of the 20 designated wards. The fee is £895 (£300 Part A, £595 Part B). Properties in the two excluded wards — Hatch Lane & Highams Park North, and Endlebury — do not need any licence for a single-household let.

Two Unrelated Sharers

Two unrelated people sharing a property form two separate households. In Waltham Forest, this still falls under selective licensing — the same scheme as a single let. The fee is the same £895, and the same two wards are excluded.

This catches many landlords off guard. They assume two people sharing a flat is somehow different from a family let. Under the selective licensing rules, both need the same licence in the same wards.

Three or Four Unrelated Sharers

Once a property is occupied by three or four people from two or more separate households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, it is classified as a small HMO. It needs an additional HMO licence under Waltham Forest's borough-wide scheme (all 22 wards, including the two excluded from selective licensing).

The fee is £1,200 (£600 Part A, £600 Part B). Additional HMO licensing also comes with stricter requirements: a fire risk assessment, mains-wired smoke alarms, emergency lighting in escape routes, and the statutory minimum room sizes (6.51 m² per single adult bedroom).

The jump from two sharers to three sharers is the most consequential threshold in Waltham Forest's licensing framework. It changes the scheme, increases the fee by £305, and adds a layer of safety and standards requirements.

Five or More Occupants

A property with five or more people from two or more households sharing amenities is a large HMO and needs a mandatory HMO licence. This is a national requirement — it applies in every ward of every borough in England. The Waltham Forest fee starts at £1,650 for properties with up to 8 units (£825 Part A, £825 Part B) and goes up to £5,500 for properties with 20 or more units.

Mandatory HMOs face the most demanding safety standards: a Grade A LD2 fire alarm system, written fire risk assessment, and strict room size enforcement.

Self-Contained Flats

A self-contained flat (its own kitchen, bathroom and entrance) is licensed according to who lives in it, not the building it sits in. A flat let to one person needs a selective licence. A flat shared by three friends from different households needs an additional HMO licence. The fact that the flat has its own front door does not change the licensing classification.

If the flat is inside a converted block that qualifies as a Section 257 HMO, the building-level HMO status does not change the individual flat's licensing requirement. See our Section 257 HMO post for how those buildings are treated.

Counting Households Correctly

A "household" under Section 258 of the Housing Act 2004 means members of the same family — spouses, cohabitees, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and foster children. Unrelated individuals each form their own household. A couple counts as one household. Three friends count as three.

Children count as occupants. A property let to a couple with two children is one household (selective licensing). A property shared by two couples — even with children — is two households. If both couples share amenities and one or both have children bringing the total to five people, you are in mandatory HMO territory.

For the full decision framework and the complete application walkthrough, see our Waltham Forest landlord licensing guide.

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