Westminster landlords can now apply for new additional HMO licences after the council confirmed its borough-wide scheme will restart on 31 August and run until 30 August 2031.
The fresh timetable has been set out in the NRLA’s June licensing update, which says applications for new Westminster licences opened on 1 June and that the fee is £1,540, with discounts for accredited landlords.
For landlords, the immediate point is timing. Owners with properties that fall within Westminster’s additional licensing rules now have a summer window to prepare applications, while a wider run of London licensing changes suggests compliance pressure is still spreading rather than easing.
Westminster scheme joins wider London licensing push
The NRLA update also says Hillingdon’s borough-wide additional licensing scheme will start on 24 August with a £1,401 fee, while Croydon’s new selective and additional licensing schemes are due to begin on 1 September. Enfield is also renewing its selective licensing scheme from 1 September.
That matters for portfolio landlords with stock across more than one borough, because licensing costs, renewal dates and scheme boundaries are moving at the same time. A missed application can quickly become an enforcement issue once a scheme goes live.
The NRLA licensing team said Westminster’s renewed scheme will run borough-wide, that existing additional HMO licences will remain valid until expiry, and that landlords can submit renewal applications up to three months before the end of an existing licence.
This follows Residential Landlord’s analysis of London licensing fines and rent repayment order risks, which showed how quickly paperwork failures can turn into costly disputes. It also sits alongside recent reporting on councils stepping up pressure on unlicensed landlords as post-RRA enforcement beds in.
Westminster is not a new name in this area, but the renewed scheme is a reminder that licensing is becoming a rolling operational issue rather than a one-off compliance exercise. Landlords with mixed London portfolios will need clean records on property type, occupancy and renewal dates well before late August.
Further details of the June changes are set out in the NRLA’s June licensing update.
Licensing costs and deadlines are stacking up
Fees are only part of the burden. Landlords also need to budget for certificates, management arrangements and any works needed before an application is made, especially where room sizes, fire precautions or amenity standards are under closer scrutiny.
The wider warning is that councils are not waiting for a single national enforcement pattern to emerge. Borough by borough, licensing rules are continuing to expand, renew or tighten. That means investors buying into London this summer need to price compliance in from day one, not treat it as an afterthought.
Opinion
Licensing drift is turning into licensing creep. Westminster’s restart may be manageable on its own, but landlords with homes in several boroughs are facing a growing patchwork of fees, dates and local rules. Ministers say they want a more professional sector, but the system still looks far too fragmented for that to be efficient.
