Selective licensing Hammersmith and Fulham: streets, fees and HMO rules

Landlord licence Hammersmith and Fulham at a glance

Sources: Hammersmith & Fulham Council pages listed under Sources, checked 21 October 2026.

How big is the private rented sector in Hammersmith and Fulham?

The 2021 Census counted 81,244 households in Hammersmith and Fulham, and 29,558 of them (36.4%) rented from a private landlord or letting agent, or rented privately in another way. Across England and Wales the figure was 20.3%, so Hammersmith and Fulham's private rented share is well above the national average. Hammersmith and Fulham had the 40th largest number of private renting households of any of the 331 local authorities, and the 7th highest share. 26,090 households (32.1%) were owner-occupiers and 24,231 (29.8%) were social renters.

Selective licensing in Hammersmith and Fulham

H&F's selective scheme targets 24 streets, mostly busy roads with flats over shops, rather than whole wards. If your rented home is on one of those streets and isn't an HMO, it needs a selective licence. The full street list, with house-number ranges, is in the council's 2022 public notice of designation. Check it for the exact address, because some streets are only partly covered.

The scheme ends on 4 June 2027. We couldn't find a published renewal or new designation when we checked in October 2026; if the council wants to continue, it must consult first, so watch for that.

Additional and mandatory HMO licensing in H&F

Additional HMO licensing applies across the whole borough over the same period, 5 June 2022 to 4 June 2027. It covers HMOs not caught by mandatory licensing, typically 3 or 4 sharers from 2 or more households. HMOs with 5 or more people need a mandatory licence.

Hammersmith and Fulham landlord licence fees

According to the council's 2026/27 fees and charges booklet, an additional HMO licence and a selective licence each cost £755. Members of accredited landlord bodies get £80 off, or £50 off for signing the council's Landlord Rental Charter. Only one discount applies.

Councils usually split a licence fee into two parts: one paid when you apply, covering processing, and one paid before the licence is granted, covering running and enforcing the scheme. Where the council publishes the split, we show it above. Fees are reviewed regularly, so treat these as correct on the date we checked and confirm on the council's fee page before you pay.

Do I need a landlord licence in Hammersmith and Fulham? A quick check

1. Count the people and households living in the property.
2. If 5 or more people from 2 or more households share facilities, you need a mandatory HMO licence.
3. If 3 or 4 people from 2 or more households share, you need an additional HMO licence anywhere in H&F.
4. If it's a single-household let on one of the 24 designated streets, you need a selective licence. Check the house numbers in the designation notice.
5. Anywhere else, a single-household let doesn't need a property licence.

People also ask about landlord licensing in Hammersmith and Fulham

Do I need a landlord licence in Fulham? For a shared house, yes, anywhere in the borough. For a single-household let, only if it's on one of the 24 designated streets.

When does H&F selective licensing end? 4 June 2027, the same day as the additional HMO scheme.

How much is a selective licence in Hammersmith and Fulham? £755 in 2026/27, with £80 off for accredited landlords or £50 for Rental Charter signatories.

What every Hammersmith and Fulham landlord must do, licence or not

A property licence doesn't replace the national rules; it adds to them. In Hammersmith and Fulham, as everywhere in England, a landlord must also:

• get an annual gas safety check from a Gas Safe registered engineer and hand tenants the record;
• arrange an electrical installation condition report (EICR) at least every 5 years;
• let only with an EPC of band E or better, unless an exemption is registered;
• protect a tenancy deposit within 30 days in an approved scheme;
• provide working smoke alarms on each storey and carbon monoxide alarms where there's a fixed combustion appliance, other than a gas cooker;
• check every adult tenant's Right to Rent before the tenancy begins.

Licence applications in most councils ask you to upload the gas record, EICR and EPC, so having them in date before you apply saves a round of requests.

What happens if you let without the right licence in Hammersmith and Fulham?

Councils treat unlicensed letting seriously. It's a criminal offence that can lead to prosecution and an unlimited fine, or a civil penalty of up to £40,000 per offence (the maximum rose from £30,000 on 1 May 2026). Tenants can also ask the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order of up to 24 months' rent. Councils including Westminster, Brighton & Hove and Islington spell these figures out on their licensing pages. A duly made application is your protection, so don't wait for the council to find the property first.

Keeping to your licence conditions

Getting the licence is a one-off; keeping to its conditions lasts the life of the licence, which is usually up to 5 years. Conditions commonly require you to produce a current gas safety certificate on request, keep alarms in working order, supply electrical test results, and manage repairs and tenancy paperwork properly.

Gaffy is built for that ongoing part. You keep each property's gas certificate, EICR, EPC and licence in one vault with expiry dates, and Gaffy warns you before anything runs out. Tenants report repairs from a link that opens in their phone's browser, so every problem arrives with photos and a date, and you can show the council a clear repair log. It costs £12 a month for up to 5 properties and £4 a month for each additional property, with the first month free. We don't make licence applications for you.