Selective licensing Southwark: which landlords need a licence

Landlord licence Southwark at a glance

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

How big is the private rented sector in Southwark?

Southwark had 37,506 privately renting households at the 2021 Census, out of 130,820 in total: 28.7% of all households, against 20.3% for England and Wales. That puts Southwark 21st of 331 local authorities by number of private renting households and 32nd by share. Owner-occupiers made up 28.9% (37,749 households) and social renters 39.7% (51,991).

Selective licensing in Southwark

Selective licensing covers every privately rented property in the designated wards that isn't covered by mandatory or additional licensing. The wards are Champion Hill and Newington; Faraday, Goose Green and St Giles; North Walworth, Nunhead & Queens Road, Old Kent Road and Peckham; and Camberwell Green, Chaucer, Dulwich Hill, Dulwich Wood, London Bridge and West Bermondsey, Peckham Rye, Rotherhithe, Rye Lane, South Bermondsey and Surrey Docks. That's 19 wards in total. Southwark publishes an interactive map, which is the quickest way to confirm a specific address.

The council's public notices set out the dates. The designation for designations 1 and 2 was declared on 14 June 2023, and designations 3 and 4 run from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2028.

Southwark additional HMO licensing

Additional licensing applies across the whole borough to HMOs not covered by mandatory licensing, including certain converted blocks (section 257 HMOs, which carry a £0 fee). The designation declared in October 2021 began on 1 March 2022 and was due to end on 1 March 2027. We couldn't find a confirmed renewal on the council's site when we checked on 21 October 2026, so check Southwark's additional licensing page before March 2027.

Southwark landlord licence fees

As published by Southwark from 1 April 2026. Selective licence: £945 (£661.50 Part A on application, £283.50 Part B when approved), unchanged in 2026. Additional HMO licence: £1,433 (£1,017.50 plus £415.50). Mandatory HMO licence: £1,653.50 for the first 5 lettings (£1,157.50 plus £496), plus £110 per letting above 5. Section 257 HMOs: £0.

Gold Standard Charter landlords get 50% off Part B, and pay no Part B at all if they're also signed up to the council's finders' fee scheme. Registered charities providing qualifying housing get 50% off both parts. Paying by invoice adds £60.50, and a paper application adds £179.70, unless you have a valid reason, such as a disability, for not applying online.

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 Southwark? 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 Southwark.
4. If it's any other private let in one of the 19 selective wards, you need a selective licence.
5. Outside those wards, a single-household let doesn't need a property licence.

People also ask about landlord licensing in Southwark

Do I need a landlord licence in Southwark? For a shared house, yes, anywhere in the borough. For a single-household let, yes if it's in one of the 19 selective wards.

Which Southwark wards have selective licensing? Champion Hill, Newington, Faraday, Goose Green, St Giles, North Walworth, Nunhead & Queens Road, Old Kent Road, Peckham, Camberwell Green, Chaucer, Dulwich Hill, Dulwich Wood, London Bridge and West Bermondsey, Peckham Rye, Rotherhithe, Rye Lane, South Bermondsey and Surrey Docks.

How much is a Southwark selective licence? £945 (£661.50 plus £283.50).

What every Southwark landlord must do, licence or not

Whatever the licensing position for your street, the core safety and paperwork duties for Southwark landlords are the same as anywhere in England:

• gas safety: a Gas Safe check every 12 months, with the record given to tenants;
• electrical safety: an EICR at least every 5 years, with a copy to tenants;
• energy: an EPC of at least band E, unless the property is exempt;
• deposits: protected in an approved scheme within 30 days, with the prescribed information served;
• alarms: a smoke alarm on every storey with living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance (except gas cookers);
• Right to Rent: checks on all adult occupiers before the tenancy starts.

These are also the documents a council is most likely to ask for when it processes an application or carries out a compliance visit.

What happens if you let without the right licence in Southwark?

If a property needs a licence and doesn't have one, the landlord commits an offence. The council can prosecute (with an unlimited fine on conviction) or issue a civil penalty of up to £40,000, the limit that has applied since 1 May 2026, and tenants can claim back up to 24 months' rent through a rent repayment order. Westminster, Brighton & Hove and Islington are among the councils that publish these limits. Applying promptly matters: the offence is avoided once a valid application has been made.

Keeping to your licence conditions

Councils grant most licences for up to 5 years and attach conditions, such as providing a gas safety certificate each year on request, maintaining smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, producing electrical safety reports, and handling repairs promptly. Inspectors check these against your records.

Gaffy keeps those records in order. Upload each certificate once, tag its expiry date, and Gaffy tells you what's expired or coming up, property by property. Tenants send repair requests with photos through a simple link, with no app to install, so you build a dated history of what was reported and when it was fixed. Pricing is £12 a month for up to 5 properties, then £4 a month per extra property, and your first month is free. We don't submit licence applications on your behalf.