Landlord licence Hillingdon: the 2026 HMO scheme

Landlord licence Hillingdon at a glance

Sources: Hillingdon Council pages listed under Sources, checked 21 October 2026.

How big is the private rented sector in Hillingdon?

The 2021 Census counted 109,228 households in Hillingdon, and 28,276 of them (25.9%) rented from a private landlord or letting agent, or rented privately in another way. Across England and Wales the figure was 20.3%, so Hillingdon's private rented share is well above the national average. Hillingdon had the 43rd largest number of private renting households of any of the 331 local authorities, and the 49th highest share. 61,831 households (56.6%) were owner-occupiers and 17,613 (16.1%) were social renters.

Is there selective licensing in Hillingdon?

No. Hillingdon licenses HMOs only. Lets to a single household, or to 2 sharers, don't need a property licence.

Hillingdon additional HMO licensing from August 2026

According to the council's public notice, the additional licensing designation applies to the whole borough from 24 August 2026 to 23 August 2031. It covers HMOs occupied by 3 or 4 people forming 2 or more households. HMOs that need a mandatory licence, and section 257 HMOs (certain converted blocks of flats), are excluded. If you let a 3 or 4 person shared house anywhere in the borough and haven't applied, you're already inside the scheme, so apply now.

Mandatory HMO licensing in Hillingdon

HMOs with 5 or more people from 2 or more households sharing a kitchen, bathroom or toilet need a mandatory licence anywhere in the borough. The rule applies regardless of the number of storeys. A property only needs one licence, so a mandatory HMO doesn't need an additional licence too.

Hillingdon landlord licence fees

Third-party licensing trackers report Hillingdon's additional HMO fee as £1,401 per property, with a 10% discount for accredited landlords and managing agents. We couldn't confirm that on the council's own fees page, which blocked our check on 21 October 2026, so treat it as unverified and check Hillingdon's HMO fees page before you apply.

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 Hillingdon? 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 Hillingdon from 24 August 2026.
4. If it's a converted block of flats (section 257 HMO), it's excluded from the additional scheme.
5. If it's a single-household let, no property licence is needed.

People also ask about landlord licensing in Hillingdon

Do I need a landlord licence in Uxbridge? Only for an HMO: 3 or more people from 2 or more households. Hillingdon has no selective licensing.

When did Hillingdon additional licensing start? 24 August 2026, according to the council's public notice. It runs to 23 August 2031.

How much is a Hillingdon HMO licence? Reported at £1,401 with 10% off for accredited landlords, but confirm on the council's site. We couldn't verify it there.

What every Hillingdon landlord must do, licence or not

A property licence doesn't replace the national rules; it adds to them. In Hillingdon, 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 Hillingdon?

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.