HMO Licence in Lambeth: Fee, Who Needs One and How to Apply

The fee, from Lambeth’s own page

Council PDF 'Lambeth HMO Licensing Fee Calculator': '(New) HMO Licensing Application: £506 per letting room/bedsit... 5 bedrooms/bedsits: Fee £2,530.00, 1st payment (67%) £1,695.10, 2nd payment (33%) £834.90.' 'Renewal HMO Licensing Application: £315 per letting/bedsit... 5 bedrooms/bedsits: Fee £1,575.00.' Accredited-landlord 20% discount: new application £404.80/room (5 bed = £2,024.00), renewal £252/room (5 bed = £1,260.00). 'As of the 9 December 2021 (amended)'.

PDF filename says '2024-10' (October 2024 upload) but the content itself is dated 'As of the 9 December 2021 (amended)' -- i.e. the £506/£315 per-room rates may be several years old even though the file was re-hosted more recently. Flag for a live cross-check before publishing. fee_new_gbp/fee_renewal_gbp use the 5-bedroom/bedsit row as the national mandatory-threshold baseline.

Lambeth’s new-licence fee sits above the median of the 34 councils whose fee we could read from their own pages (£1,364). The cheapest verified is Islington at £288 and the dearest Lambeth at £2,530; fee structures differ — some charge per room or in occupancy bands, so a large HMO can cost far more than the headline figure above.

Who needs a licence in Lambeth

The national rule is the same everywhere in England and Wales — gov.uk: “You must have a licence if you’re renting out a large HMO in England or Wales. Your property is defined as a large HMO if all of the following apply: it is rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household; some or all tenants share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities; at least 1 tenant pays rent (or their employer pays it for them).” … “A licence is valid for a maximum of 5 years. You must renew your licence before it runs out. You need a separate licence for each HMO you run.” Whether a smaller shared house needs a licence depends on whether the council runs an additional or selective scheme:

Additional licensing (smaller HMOs): yes. Borough-wide (per page title 'additional-hmo-licensing'). Same per-room fee calculator appears to be used for the additional scheme (the apply page is titled 'additional-hmo-licensing') but not separately confirmed. Check the scheme map before letting to three or four sharers.

Selective licensing (all private lets in an area): not confirmed either way on the pages we read — check the council’s licensing pages before letting to fewer than five.

Letting a licensable HMO without a licence is an offence; the penalties, rent repayment orders and the fee’s tax treatment are on the HMO licence in England guide.

The Lambeth numbers around an HMO

• How many HMOs: the council estimated 5,000 HMOs in Lambeth, of which 1,300 were mandatory-licensable and 850 licences had been issued (LAHS 2024-25, MHCLG) — every council’s figures.
• Rents: the average 4+-bedroom rent in Lambeth is £3,708 a month (ONS, July 2026) against £2,519 across all sizes — rents, prices and yield in Lambeth.
• EPC: 31% of EPCs lodged here in the last year were below band C, the level a rented home needs by 1 October 2030 (EPC ratings in Lambeth).
• Council tax: Band D is £2,047 for 2026/27; in an HMO let room by room the landlord is usually the liable person (council tax in Lambeth).

How to apply

Applications go to the council, not to a national body. Have the floor plans, gas and electrical certificates, fire-safety details and the manager’s details ready; most councils take a non-refundable first payment on submission and the balance on grant (the quote above shows where Lambeth splits its fee, if it does).

Apply or check on Lambeth’s site

All councils compared · Student HMOs and Ground 4A · Renters’ Rights Act rules