Council licensing · London

Licensing in Richmond upon Thames

Richmond upon Thames has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Researched 14 October 2026 · Independently checked 14 October 2026

Check a specific address in Richmond upon Thames

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.

National rules only18

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

Selective licensing: None
Additional HMO licensing: No
Article 4 on house shares: None found
Consultation: None open

Licensing schemes

Mandatory HMO licence
In force
HMO licence (mandatory HMO licensing)
Area
National mandatory HMO licensing across the whole borough. No additional or selective licensing designation is described on the council's pages.
Fee
£1,711 for 5 years
Standard licence and re-licence fees by bedrooms or units. Each total is a fee on application plus a fee on grant (£675 at every size): 3 £1,711 (£1,036 + £675); 4 £1,769; 5 £1,827; 6 £1,885; 7 £1,943; 8 £2,001; 9 £2,059; 10+ £2,117. A pro-rata increase applies for each unit above 10. The fee structure was introduced by the Executive on 3 July 2017. Optional 90-minute pre-application advice: £180 including VAT. The page was updated 23 September 2026.
Who needs one
HMOs with 5 or more occupiers in 2 or more households, of any number of storeys. Covers houses or self-contained flats (not purpose-built flats in a block of 3+ flats) where occupants share bathrooms, toilets or cooking facilities, at least one pays rent or occupies through employment, and it is their main residence.
Exemptions
Buildings occupied by no more than two single-person households; resident landlord with up to two tenants; buildings managed or owned by public bodies or registered social landlords; residential use ancillary to a building's principal use (e.g. religious establishments); student halls under an Approved Code of Practice; buildings regulated under other legislation (care homes, bail hostels); buildings entirely occupied by freeholders or long leaseholders.
Notes
Richmond's private housing service is run by a team using Merton contact details (privatehousing@merton.gov.uk) and Merton's Regulatory Services Hub portal for applications. A licence is a fixed five-year term; renewals must be applied for before expiry. Licences cannot be transferred on sale; the seller revokes and the buyer applies on completion. Planning permission is required for HMOs of 7 or more people. An applicant may operate the HMO as if licensed once a valid application has been made, until it is determined. The HMO page (updated 2 October 2026) still says tenants may recover up to 12 months' rent through a rent repayment order.
Apply on the council site
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Richmond upon Thames.

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.

'Civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025' (PDF created July 2026), with the 'Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy 2026' (https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/ixmjthjj/private_sector_housing_enforcement_policy.pdf). Statutory maxima: £7,000 for breaches, £40,000 for offences. Starting points follow MHCLG statutory guidance, except licence-condition breaches (s72(3)), whose starting levels are set locally by the type of condition breached. A landlord-type adjustment of +20% applies to landlords with 6+ properties, 3+ HMOs, corporate landlords or directors, or significant experience; -20% applies to small, inexperienced landlords. Aggravating or mitigating factors move the penalty up or down by up to 20% of the starting point. Failure to obtain an HMO licence (s72(1)): starting point £17,000, giving £13,600 / £17,000 / £20,400 after the landlord-type step. Each breached licence condition attracts a separate penalty. 15% discount for full payment within the final-notice period, which an appeal does not suspend. No formal approval date was found in the extracted text.

Richmond upon Thames's civil penalty policy

Consultations

No consultation was recorded when we researched Richmond upon Thames.

Not yet confirmed

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

Not yet confirmed
No additional or selective licensing designation or consultation found on richmond.gov.uk as of 2026-10-14. Confirm with the private housing team (privatehousing@merton.gov.uk) that none is planned.
Not yet confirmed
The 2026 civil penalty and enforcement policy PDFs carry no approval date in their extractable text. Confirm the date the policy took effect. This could not be independently re-checked on 2026-10-14 because the documents do not state it.
Not yet confirmed
The HMO fee table starts at 3 bedrooms although mandatory licensing applies from 5 occupiers. Fees are by units of accommodation, not occupiers.
Not yet confirmed
HMO licence conditions document not located. The council links a 'regulations and standards' page (https://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/housing/private_housing/privately_rented_properties/hmo/hmo_standards_and_regulations), which was not fetched.

Landlord register

Licensing is separate from the national landlord register. Richmond upon Thames 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