Council licensing · London

Licensing in Croydon

Croydon has selective licensing in 14 wards and additional HMO licensing across the whole council area.

Researched 14 October 2026 · Independently checked 14 October 2026

Check a specific address in Croydon

We match the postcode to its ward and the schemes below.

Licensing, ward by ward

Tap a ward, or focus it with your keyboard, to see its name and recorded coverage.

Selective licensing area14
Additional HMO licensing area14

Additional HMO licensing also covers the whole council area.

Current ONS ward boundaries. Exemptions apply. Use the postcode check and scheme details for your property.

Selective licensing: 14 wards
Additional HMO licensing: Yes, whole council area
Article 4 on house shares: Yes
Consultation: None open

Licensing schemes

Selective licence
In force
London Borough of Croydon Designation for Areas for Selective Licensing 2026
Area
14 of Croydon's 28 wards, which the council says cover around 72.5% of the borough's private rented sector. The council web page spells one ward 'Norbury and Pollards Hill'; the designation uses 'Norbury & Pollards Hill'.
14 wards, as named in the designation (Current Croydon wards (council news release describes 14 of the borough's 28 wards)):
Addiscombe East
Addiscombe West
Bensham Manor
Broad Green
Fairfield
Norbury & Pollards Hill
Norbury Park
Selhurst
South Croydon
South Norwood
Thornton Heath
Waddon
West Thornton
Woodside
Runs
25 September 2026 to 31 August 2031
Fee
£800 for 5 years
Part A £480 on application (non-refundable), Part B £320 on grant. One-year selective licence: £480 + £64 = £544. Discounts off Part B: EPC B or above £50 (total £750); accredited landlord (LLAS, NRLA, UKALA) or member of ARLA, RICS or Safeagent £100 (total £700). Multi-dwelling discount £100 off Part A for 2nd and later flats in the same block under common ownership applied for together (total £700). Discounts not given after 2 requests for documents or after a warning letter for failing to license. Page shows no last-updated date. Full schedule: https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s70269/Ap11%20-%20Schedule%20of%20Fees%20Charges.pdf (not fetched).
Who needs one
Privately rented homes in the 14 wards let to a single household (e.g. a family), a single tenant, or two people sharing, unless the property is licensed (or licensable) as a mandatory or additional HMO.
Exemptions
Mandatory HMOs and HMOs licensable under the 2026 additional designation; tenancies granted by a registered social landlord; homes under an Interim or Final Management Order; temporary exemption notices (s86); tenancies exempt under the Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006 (council page lists long leases over 21 years occupied by the leaseholder, family arrangements, approved student accommodation, care homes/bail hostels).
Notes
Designation made 25 March 2026 by Cabinet under the December 2024 general approval (no Secretary of State confirmation needed). The designation and the March 2026 press release gave a start date of 1 September 2026; on 9 July 2026 an officer decision under delegated authority moved commencement to 25 September 2026 (described as the latest lawful start date, six months after the Cabinet designation) because the IT system needed more testing. The council's amendment notice says the designation is unchanged in all other respects, so the cessation date stays as written in the designation: 'The Designation shall cease to have effect on 1st September 2031 (not more than 5 years)'. That is the fifth anniversary of the original 1 September 2026 start, so end_date is 31 August 2031, the last day in force. Applications opened on 25 September 2026 via The Oyster Partnership, which administers the scheme. Property118 (2 Sept 2026) reported that the Housing Act 2004 has no obvious procedure for varying a designation's start date and that landlords could not apply before the scheme started. Croydon's previous borough-wide selective scheme ran 2015-2020; the council's 2020 renewal bid was not approved by the Secretary of State.
Apply on the council site Licence conditions Designation or map
Sources
Additional HMO licence
In force
The London Borough of Croydon Designation of an Area for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation 2026
Area
Entire London Borough of Croydon.
Runs
25 September 2026 to 31 August 2031
Fee
£1,250 for 5 years
Part A £750 on application (non-refundable), Part B £500 on grant, collected automatically. One-year additional HMO licence: £750 + £100 = £850. Discounts off Part B: EPC B or above £50 (total £1,200); accredited landlord (LLAS, NRLA, UKALA) or member of ARLA, RICS or Safeagent £100 (total £1,150). Page shows no last-updated date.
Who needs one
HMOs (s254 Housing Act 2004) occupied by 3 or more persons forming 2 or more households that are not mandatory HMOs; in practice 3 or 4 person HMOs, as the council page puts it.
Exemptions
Mandatory HMOs; houses under Interim or Final Management Orders; temporary exemption notices (s62); Schedule 14 buildings; s257 converted blocks (3+ storeys, 3+ flats) in the same ownership or control are excluded per the designation.
Notes
Same timeline as the selective scheme: made 25 March 2026, original start 1 September 2026, moved to 25 September 2026 by the 9 July 2026 delegated decision; the designation says it 'shall cease to have effect on 1st September 2031', the fifth anniversary of the original start, so end_date is 31 August 2031, the last day in force. Same Property118 concern applies about the start-date variation and applications only opening on the start date.
Apply on the council site Licence conditions Designation or map
Sources
Mandatory HMO licence
In force
Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Croydon fees)
Area
Entire borough (national scheme).
Fee
Not yet confirmed
£295 per habitable room (living and dining rooms count; kitchens, bathrooms and kitchen-diners do not), up to a maximum of £5,907. Part A £177 per habitable room on application (non-refundable); Part B £118 per habitable room when the licence is issued.
Who needs one
HMOs occupied by 5 or more people forming 2 or more households sharing at least one basic amenity.
Notes
Fee is per habitable room, so standard_gbp is null.
Apply on the council site
Sources
- croydon.gov.uk: apply mandatory hmo licence

Article 4 for house shares

Croydon has an Article 4 direction on houses in multiple occupation. Turning a family home into a shared house may need planning permission.

Area: The whole council area
Takes effect: 28 January 2020

Council source

Civil penalty policy

The council's policy sets how it decides the size of a fine. The version we found has been updated for the Renters' Rights Act.

Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy (2026), approved by the Executive Mayor and Cabinet on 29 July 2026 (decision recorded at https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/mgDecisionDetails.aspx?IId=30932&Opt=1). It covers Renters' Rights Act 2025 duties from 1 May 2026 and the 2026 licensing schemes. The matrix runs in five steps: an offence starting point, a Landlord Type adjustment, mitigating/aggravating factors, financial considerations, then totality. Landlord Type is +20% for landlords with 6+ properties ever, 3+ HMOs, a corporate landlord or director, or significant experience. It is -20% only for landlords with no more than 2 properties, no more than 1 HMO and very limited experience. Mitigation can take off up to 20% of the starting point, and aggravation can add up to 20%. Failure to obtain a selective licence (s95(1)) starts at £12,000 (£9,600 / £12,000 / £14,400 by Landlord Type). Failure to obtain an HMO licence (s72(1)) starts at £17,000 (£13,600 / £17,000 / £20,400). Knowingly permitting HMO over-occupation starts at £20,000. The statutory maximum is £40,000. A separate penalty is usually imposed for each offence and each offender.

Croydon's civil penalty policy

Consultations

Proposed selective (14 wards) and borough-wide additional HMO licensing schemesApproved
Closed 12 January 2026

Not yet confirmed

These points were unresolved when we researched Croydon on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

Not yet confirmed
End date after the start-date change: the designations say they 'cease to have effect on 1st September 2031' (recorded end_date 31 August 2031) and the amendment notice says nothing else changed, but no source confirms whether the council treats the term as ending then or running to 24/25 September 2031.
Not yet confirmed
Whether a delegated officer decision can lawfully vary a designation's commencement date; Property118 (2 Sept 2026) says the Act has no clear procedure for this and only a court or tribunal could settle it.
Not yet confirmed
The selective and additional fee pages show no last-updated date, and the Ap11 schedule of fees (democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s70269) was not fetched to check for other charges.
Not yet confirmed
The designation maps (Annex A/B) are embedded as images in the designation PDFs and were not checked.
Not yet confirmed
Not independently re-checked (verification of 2026-10-14): who made the start-date decision and when. The printed decision says the Regeneration Lead decided it on 8 July 2026 (notice date 9 July 2026); the council's amendment notice says the Corporate Director of Housing made it on 9 July 2026. Both give the same new start date, 25 September 2026.

Landlord register

Licensing is separate from the national landlord register. Croydon is in London, where the planned registration window runs from 15 July 2027 to 14 October 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Register dates, fee and documents