Landlord Guide London 2026: Licensing, Rent & RRA Rules by Borough

If you let property in the capital, this landlord guide London 2026 edition pulls together the three things that trip people up most: the borough-by-borough licensing patchwork, the new rent rules under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and the everyday compliance duties that now apply to every let. London is not one market with one rulebook, it is 32 boroughs plus the City of London, each with its own licensing schemes, planning controls and enforcement appetite. Get the local layer wrong and the national rules will not save you.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May 2026. It abolished Section 21 “no-fault” evictions and fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs), making every assured tenancy a rolling periodic one. Those changes apply equally across all of England, including every London borough. What still varies by borough is licensing, planning and enforcement, and that is where most London landlords get caught.

This guide is written for the landlord who owns one flat in Zone 4 just as much as for the portfolio investor running HMOs across three boroughs. It explains what is now fixed nationally, what is still local, how to check your own properties properly, and where the costliest mistakes are made. Read it once before your next letting and you will know which questions to ask of which authority, and in what order.

The landlord guide London 2026 starts here: what changed nationally

The Renters’ Rights Act rules are not optional add-ons in London; they are the baseline. They apply to every assured tenancy in the capital from 1 May 2026, regardless of when the tenancy started.

• No more Section 21. You can no longer end a tenancy on a “no-fault” basis. Possession now runs through Section 8 grounds only, using the current prescribed Section 8 form on GOV.UK.
• No fixed terms. All assured tenancies are periodic. A tenant can end the tenancy on two months’ notice; you cannot lock them into a 12-month term.
• Rent increases via Section 13 only, once per year, using the current prescribed Section 13 form on GOV.UK. Rent-review clauses in agreements are banned, and the First-tier Tribunal cannot set rent above the figure you proposed.
• Pets: tenants have a statutory right to request one, and you must give or refuse consent in writing within 28 days (plus up to 7 more if you reasonably need further information). There is no deemed consent, and you cannot require pet insurance.
• Deposits: protection rules under the Housing Act 2004 (sections 213–215) are unchanged; the holding deposit cap remains one week’s rent under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

For the new rent mechanics in detail, see our guide to Section 13 rent increases, and for the bigger picture of how possession works now, see Section 8 vs Section 21.

Why “no Section 21” bites harder in a London portfolio

In a high-turnover London market, many landlords historically relied on Section 21 to recover a flat quickly between tenants, to manage a problem tenant without proving fault, or to free up a property for sale or refurbishment. None of that is available now. Possession means choosing the correct Section 8 ground, for example arrears (Ground 8 needs at least three months’ or 13 weeks’ rent unpaid at both notice and hearing), sale (Ground 1A, four months’ notice), or the landlord moving in (Ground 1). The practical effect for London letting is that tenant selection and clean paperwork at the start matter far more than they did, because exit is now slower and evidence-led. If you are mapping the new exit routes, start with how tenancies end in England in 2026.

What is coming, but is not in force yet

Two parts of the reform programme matter for London but are not live as you read this:

• The PRS Landlord Ombudsman, a mandatory redress scheme all private landlords will eventually have to join, is expected around 2028. When it arrives, it will sit alongside any local licensing duties, not replace them.
• The Private Rented Sector Database, a national register of landlords and properties, is expected to phase in from late 2026 into 2027. Until it is fully operational, there is still no single national place to check whether a London property is licensed; you must check borough by borough.

Awaab’s Law and the Decent Homes Standard are also being phased into the private rented sector, raising the bar on hazards and disrepair. Treat both as a direction of travel that will tighten over the next few years, and remember that in older London stock, damp and mould complaints are exactly the kind of issue these reforms are designed to force landlords to fix on the clock.

The London layer: licensing is local

This is where “London” stops being a single answer. There are three licensing regimes, and a single flat can fall under more than one at the same time.

1. Mandatory HMO licensing (national, but everywhere in London)

Any house in multiple occupation with five or more occupiers forming two or more households needs a mandatory HMO licence, in every borough. This is set nationally under the Housing Act 2004, so it applies in Bromley exactly as it does in Hackney. If you let shared houses or flats, start with our HMO licensing guide and, if you are unsure whether your property even counts, our explainer on what an HMO is.

2. Additional HMO licensing (borough by borough)

Boroughs can extend HMO licensing to smaller HMOs, typically those with three or four occupiers forming two or more households. Many inner-London boroughs run additional schemes covering all or part of their area; among those that have operated additional licensing are Camden, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. These schemes are designated locally, run for up to five years, and must be renewed, so a scheme that lapsed last year may be re-designated this year, and a new one can appear in a borough that had none.

3. Selective licensing (any privately rented home, not just HMOs)

Selective licensing requires a licence for ordinary single-family lets in a designated area. Newham pioneered borough-wide selective licensing; many other boroughs run ward-level or street-level schemes. Schemes covering more than 20% of the borough’s geographical area or private rented stock need confirmation from the Secretary of State, which is why boundaries are often drawn so precisely. See our national overview of selective licensing areas.

Never assume. A property on one side of a road can need a licence while the property opposite does not, because ward and scheme boundaries do not follow postcodes neatly. Always check the specific borough’s licensing map by full address before you let.

Article 4 directions

Separately from licensing, many London boroughs have Article 4 directions that remove permitted-development rights to convert a family home (Use Class C3) into a small HMO (Class C4). Where an Article 4 direction is in force, you need full planning permission to create the HMO, a planning matter that is distinct from, and additional to, any licence. You can hold a perfectly valid HMO licence and still be in breach of planning control if you created the HMO without the permission an Article 4 direction required. Treat licensing and planning as two separate checks.

How the regimes compare

The table below summarises the four overlapping controls a London landlord may meet. A single property can be caught by more than one row at once.

Fees vary widely and councils frequently charge per-room or per-property uplifts, plus separate “Part A / Part B” instalments, so treat the figures above as ballpark only and confirm the current fee with the borough before you budget. For a repeatable method to check your own properties, see HMO licensing by council.

A rough mental map of the boroughs

You should always verify by address, but it helps to know the broad pattern when you are buying or expanding:

• Inner-London boroughs, places such as Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Camden, Islington, Waltham Forest, Brent and Croydon, are the most likely to run a mix of additional HMO and selective schemes, and to enforce actively. If you are letting here, assume a scheme may apply until you have confirmed otherwise.
• Outer-London boroughs vary more. Some have introduced targeted selective schemes in specific wards (often around town centres or high-turnover rental streets); others rely only on the national mandatory HMO regime. “Outer” does not mean “no licence”.
• The City of London is small and largely commercial, but residential lets there still attract the same national tenancy rules and any local licensing the Corporation chooses to operate.

The takeaway is not to memorise which borough does what, schemes change too often, but to recognise that no part of London is automatically licence-free, and that the busiest rental markets tend to have the most controls.

Rent in London under the new rules

London rents are high, but the legal route to raising them is now the same everywhere in England. Under the Renters’ Rights Act:

• Use the current prescribed Section 13 form on GOV.UK, an email or informal letter is not legally binding for a statutory increase.
• You can increase rent once every 12 months, giving at least two months’ notice before the new rent takes effect.
• A tenant who thinks the proposed rent is above market value can refer it to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), which cannot set the rent higher than you asked for. In a high-value London market, that one-way ratchet means a defensible, evidence-based figure matters more than ever.

Rent-review or “escalator” clauses that used to appear in London ASTs are now void. Strip them out of any agreement you reuse, and never rely on a clause that purports to raise rent automatically each year. For the wider rules and a free calculator, see how much a landlord can increase rent in England.

Why a weak Section 13 hurts more in London

Because the tribunal can only hold the rent at, or below, your proposed figure, an over-ambitious London increase invites a tenant challenge that can only go one way for you. The discipline is to propose a rent you can evidence with comparable lettings in the same postcode, street type and condition. Keep the comparables you relied on, listings, agreed lets, agent valuations, with the notice. If the tenant refers it, you walk into the tribunal with the homework already done.

There is a second, quieter risk in London: an unlicensed property weakens your hand on rent. If a tenant or adviser realises the property should have been licensed, a contested Section 13 can become the moment that history surfaces, and a landlord facing a rent repayment order and a civil penalty is in no position to push an aggressive increase. Compliance and rent strategy are not separate problems; in London they reinforce each other.

A practical London compliance checklist

Across all 32 boroughs and the City, every let needs:

• A valid EPC, see our EPC rules guide.
• An annual gas safety certificate (CP12) and a five-yearly electrical (EICR) report.
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in line with the regulations.
• Deposit protection in an authorised scheme, with prescribed information served on time, see tenancy deposit protection.
• Right to Rent checks on all adult occupiers.
• The correct licence(s) for the borough and street, checked by full address, not by assumption.
• A written tenancy agreement on the new periodic model, a London-specific template helps you carry the right borough licence reference.

A licence breach is one of the costliest mistakes a London landlord can make. Unlicensed letting can lead to civil penalties of up to £30,000 per offence as an alternative to prosecution, and it exposes you to rent repayment orders covering up to 12 months’ rent paid back to the tenant, or to the council where Housing Benefit or Universal Credit was paid. Build the checks in before move-in, not after a council inspection. See rent repayment orders explained and our wider landlord fines list.

Worked example: one flat, two regimes, one mistake

Consider Priya, who buys a two-bedroom upper-floor flat in a borough she has not let in before. She lets it to a couple and assumes that, because it is not an HMO, no licence applies.

What she missed: the property sits inside a selective licensing ward designated 18 months ago. Selective licensing applies to ordinary single-family lets, so her two-tenant flat needed a licence even though no shared-house rules were in play.

The numbers, illustratively:

• Selective licence fee she should have paid up front: ~£800.
• Civil penalty the council imposes for letting unlicensed: up to £30,000 (in practice often lower for a first, cooperative offence, but discretionary).
• Rent repayment order the tenants apply for after the period of unlicensed letting: up to 12 months’ rent. At £1,900 a month, that is up to £22,800.
• Section 13 rent increase Priya tried to serve during the unlicensed period: undermined, because enforcement action and a damaged record make any contested increase harder to defend.

Had Priya spent ten minutes checking the borough’s licensing checker by address before move-in, the ~£800 licence would have closed off a four- and five-figure exposure. The lesson is not that London licensing is harsh, it is that it is local and silent: nothing tells you a scheme applies except the borough’s own map.

The same flat, done correctly

Run the counterfactual. Before move-in, Priya checks the borough’s online licensing checker by full address, sees the selective scheme, and applies. She pays the ~£800 fee, receives a licence reference, and records it on the tenancy agreement. She protects the deposit and serves the prescribed information within the deadline, completes Right to Rent checks, hands over a valid EPC, gas certificate and EICR, and diarises the licence expiry roughly five years out. When she later serves a Section 13 increase, there is no compliance shadow over it and her comparables stand on their own. The difference between the two versions of this story is one ten-minute check and a habit of recording deadlines.

Borough-by-borough: how to actually check

There is no single national licensing register yet (the PRS Database is expected to phase in from late 2026 into 2027, and will be confirmed as it rolls out). Until then, run the same process for every property:

1. Identify the borough from the property’s full address, not just the postcode district, boundaries can split a postcode.
2. Search that borough’s website for “property licensing” and enter the address in its scheme checker.
3. Check all three regimes: mandatory HMO, any additional HMO scheme, and any selective scheme covering that ward or street.
4. Check separately for any Article 4 direction affecting HMO conversions.
5. Confirm whether the scheme has an end date and diarise the renewal, schemes run on roughly five-year cycles.
6. Keep dated screenshots of each result as evidence you checked.

When you let in London, repeat this for every property and every renewal. Schemes change on a five-year cycle and new designations appear regularly, so a “no licence needed” result from two years ago is not reliable today.

Enforcement appetite varies, but do not bank on leniency

Some London boroughs are markedly more active on licensing enforcement than others, running proactive sweeps, data-matching against council tax and EPC records, and acting on tenant complaints. But enforcement appetite is no defence: the obligation to hold a licence does not depend on whether the borough has knocked on the door, and rent repayment orders are tenant-driven, not council-driven. Compliance is the only safe assumption.

Buying into a borough you do not know

If you are acquiring in an unfamiliar part of London, do the licensing check before exchange, not after completion. A property bought as a going concern may already be let unlicensed, in which case you can inherit problems, and the seller’s failure to license does not protect you once you are the landlord. Ask for the existing licence reference, the deposit scheme details and the current certificates as part of due diligence, and treat any gaps as a price or condition point, not an afterthought.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Renters’ Rights Act change anything about London licensing?

No. Licensing is set under the Housing Act 2004 and by individual boroughs, and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 did not abolish or merge those schemes. What the Act changed is the tenancy itself, no Section 21, no fixed terms, Section 13-only rent increases and the pet right-to-request. You must comply with both layers: the national tenancy rules and your borough’s licensing.

I let one flat in London, do I really need a licence?

Possibly. If your single-family flat sits in a selective licensing area, you need a licence even though it is not an HMO. Selective licensing applies to ordinary lets in designated wards or streets, so the only way to know is to check that borough’s scheme map by address. Do not assume “it’s just one flat” means no licence.

Can I still raise the rent each year in London the way I used to?

Only through the statutory route. You must use the current prescribed Section 13 form on GOV.UK, increase no more than once every 12 months, and give at least two months’ notice. Old rent-review or escalator clauses are void. If the tenant challenges the figure at the First-tier Tribunal, the tribunal cannot set it any higher than you proposed, so propose a rent you can evidence.

What happens if I let an unlicensed property in London?

You expose yourself to a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence (or prosecution), and the tenant, or the council, where housing benefit was involved, can apply for a rent repayment order of up to 12 months’ rent. You may also be restricted in how you regain possession. The licence fee is trivial by comparison; the penalty is not.

Do Article 4 directions mean I cannot create an HMO at all?

No. An Article 4 direction simply removes the automatic permitted-development right to convert a family home (Class C3) into a small HMO (Class C4). It means you must apply for full planning permission rather than relying on permitted development. It is a separate question from licensing: you may still need a licence even where planning is granted, and a licence does not cure a planning breach.

How do I keep track of multiple borough schemes and renewals?

Build a per-property record that holds the borough, the scheme type(s), the licence reference, the expiry date and every certificate (gas, EICR, EPC). Set reminders well before each expiry, because licences and certificates lapse silently. Spreadsheets work for one or two properties; across several boroughs, dedicated tracking pays for itself the first time it stops a lapse.

Related guides

• HMO licensing in England explained
• Selective licensing areas in England 2026
• HMO licensing by council 2026
• London tenancy agreement template 2026
• Free landlord compliance checklist (England, 2026)
• Section 13 rent increases explained

Coming soon

Keeping track of which borough scheme applies, when each licence expires and which certificate renews next is exactly the kind of admin that costs London landlords thousands when it slips. Tenancy Pilot is launching soon with a compliance and certificate-tracking dashboard that stores each property’s licence and certificate details and sends renewal reminders before they lapse, built to be aware of the London borough patchwork. Want to be ready on day one? Join the waitlist.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Licensing schemes and Article 4 directions change frequently. Always verify the current position for your borough on GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk and the relevant council’s website, and consult a solicitor for advice on your specific circumstances.