If you rent out a property anywhere in Croydon, you need to know about the Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme that comes into force on 1 September 2026. In short, it is a five-year council scheme that requires most private landlords in 14 named Croydon wards to hold a licence for every privately rented home they let out. Get caught without one and you face the risk of an unlimited fine, a Rent Repayment Order from your tenant, and a banning order. Get it right and you stay on the right side of Croydon Council and your tenants. Here is what every landlord, freeholder and managing committee in Croydon needs to know.
You’re A Landlord In Croydon And You Have No Idea If This Applies To You
This is the position most of our clients found themselves in when the scheme was announced. The rules are not simple, the wards are not obvious, and the council guidance is spread across half a dozen pages. To make matters worse, if you already hold a Right to Manage company, an HMO licence or a portfolio of leasehold flats, the rules treat each property type differently.
Add in the fact that selective licensing in London changes from one borough to the next, and you can see why so many Croydon landlords are worried they will fall foul of a scheme they didn’t know existed. The good news is that the answer is not complicated once you know the framework. We deal with this every day for the buildings we manage, so we’ve broken it down here.
How Selective Licensing Works In The Borough Of Croydon
Selective licensing is a power given to local councils under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004. It allows them to require landlords in a specific area to hold a property licence as a way of tackling poor housing standards, antisocial behaviour, and rogue letting practices. Croydon was one of the first London boroughs to introduce borough-wide selective licensing back in 2015, and the new 2026 scheme is the latest version.
From 1 September 2026, the rules will run for five years. You’ll need a selective licence if your Croydon property is rented to a single household (for example, a family), let to a single tenant, or rented by two individuals sharing. If your property is already covered by a mandatory HMO licence or the council’s separate Additional HMO Licensing Scheme, you do not also need a selective licence for the same property.
Which Croydon Wards Are Covered
This is where most landlords come unstuck. The scheme does not cover every ward in the borough. It applies to 14 of Croydon’s 28 wards, which between them contain roughly 72.5% of all privately rented homes in Croydon. The covered wards are Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Bensham Manor, Broad Green, Fairfield, Norbury and Pollards Hill, Norbury Park, Selhurst, South Croydon, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Waddon, West Thornton and Woodside.
If you let property in one of those wards and you are not sure exactly where the boundary lies, the council publishes a selective licensing map on its website. If you have a property in, say, Norbury or Thornton Heath, you will almost certainly be inside the scheme.
How Much A Croydon Selective Licence Costs
The standard five-year selective licence fee is currently £800 per property, paid in two parts. Part A is £480 and is due when you submit your application, covering the council’s administration and eligibility check. Part B is £320 and is due once the council has decided to grant the licence. There is also a one-year selective licence option at £544, which can be useful if you plan to sell or end the tenancy within the year.
A few discounts are worth knowing about. If your property has an EPC rating of B or above, you get £50 off Part B. If you are an accredited landlord through schemes such as the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme, the NRLA, or UKALA, you get £100 off Part B. If you own multiple flats in the same block under common ownership and apply for them at the same time, you get £100 off Part A for the second and subsequent properties. Discounts cannot be combined in every case, so it pays to check before you apply.
What About HMOs
Houses in Multiple Occupation are treated separately. If your property is a large HMO with five or more occupants forming two or more households, it falls under the national Mandatory HMO Licensing Scheme. If it is a smaller HMO not caught by the mandatory rules, it falls under Croydon Council’s new Additional HMO Licensing Scheme, which is borough-wide and currently costs £1,250 per property for five years.
It is not unusual for our residential block management clients to have a mixed portfolio, with some flats let to single families and others let as HMOs. Each one needs the right licence under the right scheme, and applying for the wrong one can delay things significantly.
What The Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme Means For You
If you let property in one of the 14 named wards, the Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme means you must apply for a selective licence before renting your property out from 1 September 2026 onwards. The council has confirmed that the online application portal will open in July 2026. Failing to license a licensable property is a criminal offence, and the penalties have real teeth. You could be hit with an unlimited fine, your tenants can apply for a Rent Repayment Order of up to twelve months’ rent, and the council can apply for a banning order to stop you letting property altogether.
Even if you are not in one of the 14 covered wards, you still need to make sure any HMOs you own comply with the new Additional HMO Licensing Scheme, which applies right across the borough.
Why Croydon, And Why Now
Croydon is one of the most dynamic boroughs in Greater London, with substantial regeneration around East Croydon, Fairfield Halls, and the Westfield site. The borough’s private rented sector has grown rapidly over the last decade, particularly across South Croydon, Thornton Heath, Selhurst, and Norbury, where Victorian and Edwardian houses have been converted into flats at a rapid pace.
The council’s case for the new scheme is that this growth has come with a rise in poor-quality housing, damp and mould complaints, and antisocial behaviour in certain areas. Selective licensing gives them a way to enforce minimum standards across the privately rented sector and take action against landlords who fall short. For responsible landlords, the upside is that the scheme should drive cowboy operators out of the market, which is good for the long-term value of your asset.
Need A Hand With Your Croydon Property
Selective licensing is one of those areas where the rules look simple until you start applying them to a real portfolio. We help our clients through every stage of the Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme, from working out which scheme applies to which property, to gathering the supporting documents, to submitting the application and dealing with the council’s follow-up questions. If you would like to talk through what the Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme means for your buildings, please get in touch with our Croydon office or your nearest Wishtower branch. We are a RICS-regulated property management company with offices in Eastbourne, Brighton and Croydon, and we know this borough inside out.
Wishtower Offices
Eastbourne 23 Marshall Road, Eastbourne, BN22 9AD 01323 312121 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)
Brighton Queensbury House, 106 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XF 01273 658030 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)
Croydon The Lansdowne Building, 2 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, CR9 2ER 0203 150 2050 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) 0345 5120190 (After hours)
Email: info@wishtower.com
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme start?
The new scheme comes into force on 1 September 2026 and runs for five years. Applications open in July 2026.
Does the scheme apply to leasehold flats?
Yes. If a leasehold flat is privately let to a tenant in one of the 14 covered wards, the leaseholder is responsible for obtaining the licence as the landlord, not the freeholder or the management company.
What happens if I don’t apply for a licence?
Letting a licensable property without a licence is a criminal offence. Penalties include an unlimited fine, a Rent Repayment Order, and a possible banning order from Croydon Council.
Can I still rent out my property while my application is being processed?
Yes. Once your application has been duly submitted, you are treated as licensed while the council assesses it, provided the application is complete and the fee is paid.
Does the scheme apply if my tenant is a family member or I let to friends?
Yes. The scheme applies to all privately rented homes in the covered wards, regardless of who the tenant is, unless you fall under one of the exemptions in the Housing Act 2004.
Where can I find the official council guidance?
The full scheme details, including the Croydon Council selective licensing pages, are on the Croydon Council website.
