HMO Licence Cost by London Borough: A 2026 Comparison

One of the most common questions we get from landlords is simply: how much will this cost? The honest answer is that it depends heavily on which council your property falls under — London's 33 boroughs each set their own HMO licence fees independently, and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive can be over £1,500 for what is, on paper, the same licence.

Why fees vary so much

Each council calculates its own fee structure based on its own cost-recovery model, and some charge a flat fee per licence while others charge per room or per bedroom. There is no national fee schedule — only the licence requirement itself is set nationally, not the price of obtaining it. A council's fee is meant to recover its actual cost of processing applications and carrying out inspections, so boroughs with higher administrative costs, more inspection staff, or larger backlogs tend to set higher fees.

This also means fees are not fixed indefinitely. Councils review and adjust their fee schedules periodically, sometimes annually, in line with their own budget cycles rather than any external benchmark. A figure that was accurate a year ago may no longer reflect what your council currently charges, which is why we always confirm the live figure before quoting a total cost.

Flat fee or per-room charge

The two dominant fee models are a single flat fee per licence and a per-room or per-bedroom charge. A flat fee is simpler to budget for but can feel disproportionate for a small three-bedroom HMO compared with a large ten-bedroom one paying the same amount. A per-room model scales with the size of the property, which councils that use it generally justify on the basis that larger HMOs require more inspection time and carry more management complexity.

Some councils also operate a discounted fee for accredited landlords or those using recognised managing agents, and a number offer a lower fee for licence renewals compared with a fresh application. None of these variations are universal, so the model that applies to a neighbouring borough tells you nothing reliable about your own.

Some published examples

To illustrate the range: Newham's mandatory HMO licence fee has been published at around £1,400. Croydon charges per room, at roughly £285 per room rather than a flat fee. Harrow's fee sits at around £1,818. Camden charges a base fee of roughly £750 plus approximately £60 per additional room.

These figures are illustrative of the spread, not a complete list — council fees are reviewed and changed regularly, and several boroughs increase fees annually, so always confirm the current published fee for your specific borough before budgeting for an application. A five-bedroom HMO in Croydon calculated at £285 per room, for example, would sit close to Newham's flat figure, while the same property in a borough with a lower per-room rate could cost meaningfully less.

Mandatory versus additional licence fees

Where a council operates both mandatory and additional licensing schemes, it's common for the fee structure to differ between the two, reflecting the different scope of assessment involved. A mandatory licence typically involves a more detailed review given the larger number of occupants and households involved, while additional licences for smaller HMOs can sometimes carry a lower fee scale. Whichever applies to your property, the council fee is set independently of any assumption about which category is more or less complex to assess.

Council fee vs our service fee

It's worth being clear about what you're actually paying for. The council fee above is paid directly to the local authority and covers their processing and inspection costs — it exists regardless of who submits your application. Our service fee — £300+VAT for an Additional licence, £500+VAT for a Mandatory licence — is separate, and covers us preparing your complete application, liaising with the council throughout, and handling any queries until your licence is granted.

Landlords sometimes assume that using a service like ours adds to the total cost compared with applying directly. It doesn't change the council fee at all — you pay the same amount to the council either way. What our fee buys is the time saved and the reduced risk of a refusal or delay caused by an incomplete or incorrectly prepared application.

Costs beyond the initial application

The published licence fee is rarely the only cost involved. If an inspection identifies deficiencies — inadequate fire doors, missing smoke alarms, room sizes below the mandatory minimums — remedial works will add to the total before a licence can be granted. Renewal fees, due again when your typically five-year licence expires, are a recurring cost to plan for rather than a one-off. If your property also falls within a selective licensing area, a separate fee for that scheme may apply on top of your HMO licence fee.

Multiple properties across different boroughs

Landlords with HMOs in more than one borough face a particular version of this problem: there is no single reference point for what to budget, because each property sits under a different council's fee schedule, potentially a different fee model, and a different renewal cycle. A landlord with HMOs in, say, Croydon and Camden is effectively managing two completely separate cost structures — one calculated per room, the other a base fee plus a per-room addition — with no reason to expect them to move in the same direction or at the same time when either council next reviews its fees.

For portfolio landlords, this makes a per-property fee log more useful than a single borough-wide assumption. Tracking the fee, the fee model, and the renewal date separately for each property avoids the common mistake of budgeting next year's renewal based on what a different property in a different borough currently costs.

Confirming a fee before you budget

Published fee figures — including the ones above — have a shelf life, since councils typically review their fee schedules on their own cycle rather than a fixed national timetable. A figure that was correct when last checked can be out of date by the time you're ready to apply, particularly for boroughs that adjust fees annually. Confirming the live fee directly with the council, or through us, before finalising a budget avoids under-costing an application based on a stale figure.

Budgeting for your application

Because council fees vary so significantly by borough — and sometimes by property size within the same borough — we always confirm the exact council fee for your specific property before you commit to anything. Contact us with your property's borough and we'll give you a full cost breakdown, council fee and our service fee combined, before you proceed.