Westminster has 2 discretionary licensing schemes on our record: additional HMO licensing (in force), selective licensing (in force). Mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere in England to HMOs with 5 or more people in 2 or more households.
Selective: yesAdditional HMO: yesMandatory HMO: alwaysChecked 28 Sep 2026
| Area covered | Whole council area |
|---|---|
| Designation made | 21 Apr 2026 |
| Runs | 31 Aug 2026 to 30 Aug 2031 |
| Fee | £1,540 (Part A £855 + Part B £685) up to 5 bedrooms + £68 per extra letting (fees from 1 Apr 2025) |
| Discounts | per schedule (accredited / energy / charities) |
Council licensing page Designation notice Public register
Checked 28 Sept 2026.
| Area covered | Listed wards only (15 wards) |
|---|---|
| Designation made | 24 Jun 2025 |
| Runs | 24 Nov 2025 to 23 Nov 2030 |
| Fee | £995 (Part A £543 + Part B £452) per property |
| Discounts | 10% accredited (£99.50); EPC B+ 20% of B; EPC C 10% of B; £125 multiple leaseholds same freehold; 100% qualifying charities |
Abbey Road · Church Street · Harrow Road · Knightsbridge & Belgravia · Little Venice · Maida Vale · Queen's Park · Westbourne · Bayswater · Hyde Park · Lancaster Gate · Marylebone · Pimlico North · Regent's Park · West End
Ward or street lists can split a road. Use the council's own address checker or designation map before relying on this list.
Council licensing page Designation notice Public register
Note from our check: D1: Abbey Road..Westbourne; D2: Bayswater..West End
Checked 28 Sept 2026.
| Date | What | Scheme | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Nov 2030 estimated (start + 5 years) in 1517 days | scheme end | Selective licensing | council |
| 30 Aug 2031 estimated (start + 5 years) in 1797 days | scheme end | Additional HMO licensing | council |
Want a reminder before a deadline? Use the form at the bottom of this page and pick "Email me before my deadlines".
Whatever the local schemes, a licence is required for any house in multiple occupation let to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. This rule is national and has applied since 1 October 2018. Letting without a required licence is a criminal offence under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004. Read do I need an HMO licence? and how to apply.
The council's public register of licensed properties: City of Westminster public register. Use it to check whether a property already holds a licence, for example before you buy. Licences do not transfer to a new owner.
Westminster publishes Article 4 data to the national planning data platform, but none of its 10 published areas are labelled as an HMO direction. That does not prove there is no HMO Article 4 direction: check the council's planning pages.
Licensing and planning are separate. A licence does not give planning permission, and planning permission does not replace a licence. See Article 4 and HMOs.
Figures below count First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) decisions published on GOV.UK for properties located in Westminster. They show how tenants and the council use enforcement here. Most civil penalties are paid without appeal, so they never reach the tribunal.
| Rent repayment order decisions | 27 (13 in the last 3 years) |
|---|---|
| Orders made | 18 (75% of decisions with a known outcome) |
| Median award | £5,540 (last 3 years: £14,493) |
| Total awarded | £203,021 |
| Civil penalty appeals | 8 |
| Penalty upheld (in full or reduced) | 100% · confirmed in full 28.6% |
| Median penalty: council's notice / after tribunal | £16,500 / £11,000 |
| Other Housing Act appeals (licence terms, notices, orders) | 4 |
| Decided | Area | Property | Offence alleged | Outcome | Amount | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Mar 2925 | W2 | HMO | unlicensed HMO; unlicensed (selective licensing); unlawful eviction / harassment; failure to comply with improvement notice; breach of banning order; violence for securing entry | Order made | £25,963 | GOV.UK |
| 14 Jul 2026 | W9 | HMO | unlicensed HMO | Refused | — | GOV.UK |
| 7 May 2026 | SW1Y | HMO | unlicensed HMO | Order made | £15,943 | GOV.UK |
| 7 Nov 2025 | SW1E | Flat | not extracted | Refused | — | GOV.UK |
| 29 Sept 2025 | NW1 | HMO | unlicensed HMO; unlicensed (selective licensing); unlawful eviction / harassment; failure to comply with improvement notice; breach of banning order | Order made | £35,814 | GOV.UK |
| Decided | Area | Offence | Outcome | Council's penalty | After tribunal | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun 2023 | NW1 | unlicensed HMO | Penalty varied | — | £9,000 | GOV.UK |
| 22 May 2023 | W1H | unlicensed HMO | Penalty confirmed | £15,000 | £15,000 | GOV.UK |
| 10 Jan 2023 | W2 | unlicensed (selective licensing) | Withdrawn / struck out | — | £8,000 | GOV.UK |
| 29 Nov 2022 | W2 | not extracted | Penalty confirmed | £2,000 | £2,000 | GOV.UK |
| 10 Nov 2022 | W9 | unlicensed HMO | Penalty varied | — | £11,000 | GOV.UK |
| 1 Oct 2021 | W2 | not extracted | Penalty varied | £18,000 | £15,750 | GOV.UK |
| 12 Aug 2020 | W1U | unlicensed HMO | Penalty varied | — | — | GOV.UK |
| 17 Jul 2019 | W2 | not extracted | Penalty varied | £25,000 | £15,000 | GOV.UK |
Amounts and outcomes are extracted automatically from the decision text and can be wrong; open the decision on GOV.UK for the full reasons. Party names are not shown. Information, not legal advice.
If you have let without a licence you needed, read unlicensed property: what to do, rent repayment orders and civil penalties.
Westminster is in the London region of the new Private Rented Sector Database. Registration opens 15 Jul 2027 and the deadline to register is 14 Oct 2027. The published fee is £65 per property per year. Database registration is separate from council licensing: you may need both. See register your rental property.
We can prepare a licence application for you for a fixed fee; the council's own fee is separate. See pricing for what is included and how we make money. You can also run a full address check on the postcode checker.
Yes. Selective licensing (Designations 1 & 2): in force until 23 Nov 2030 (part of the area). Check the council's map or address checker to confirm your street.
Additional HMO licensing: £1,540 (up to 5 bedrooms + £68 per extra letting (fees from 1 Apr 2025)); Selective licensing: £995 (per property). Fees for mandatory HMO licences are set by the council and published on its fees page.
Westminster publishes Article 4 data to the national planning data platform, but none of its 10 published areas are labelled as an HMO direction. That does not prove there is no HMO Article 4 direction: check the council's planning pages.
The council publishes its public register of licences here: City of Westminster register. Councils must keep a register of licences under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004.
The First-tier Tribunal has published 27 rent repayment order decisions for properties in Westminster (18 with an order made), median award £5,540, and 8 civil penalty appeals. Most penalties are never appealed, so the true number of fines is higher.
Related: selective licensing in England · additional HMO licensing · HMO licence cost · HMO rules · HMO hub
Last checked 28 Sep 2026. Information, not legal advice. Licensing schemes change often; always confirm with the council before you act.