licensing scheme Westminster

Selective Property Licensing Westminster

Q4 2025

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The City of Westminster council are introducing a selective licensing scheme to enhance the quality of privately rented housing across the borough.

Sarah Emmerson

Head of Lettings Operations and Compliance

This is due to begin 24^th November 2025. The scheme requires landlords to obtain a licence to rent out their property in certain areas of the borough. The licensing covers 15 out of the 18 Westminster wards, grouped into two designations:

Designation 1, 8 wards:

· Abbey Road

· Church Street

· Harrow Road

· Knightsbridge and Belgravia

· Little Venice

· Maida Vale

· Queen’s Park

· Westbourne

Designation 2, 7 wards:

· Bayswater

· Hyde Park

· Lancaster Gate

· Marylebone

· Pimlico North

· Regent’s Park

· West End

The following three wards are not part of the scheme:

· Pimlico South

· St James’

· Vincent Square

You will require a selective licence is your property is:

· Rented to a single household, for example a family

· Let to a single Tenant

· Rented to two individuals sharing

If your property is in these wards and is a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO), HMO licensing requirements still apply. The new scheme excludes HMO’s that are already covered under existing mandatory and additional licensing schemes.

The new licence fee is set at a flat rate of £995 in total. The fees are split into two parts, part one, £543 payable when submitting the application online and covers the cost of the processing the application up to approval. Part two, £452 becomes payable after the licence has been approved and cover the cost of enforcing the scheme. The licence will not be issued until full fee has been paid.

There are license fee discounts:

Total Fee	Part A	Part B
£995	£543	£452

Nature of discount	Amount	Deductible from part A or B
Accredited landlord	10% of total fee (£99.50)	Part B
Charities	100% of total fee	Parts A and B
EPC rating B or above	20% of Part B (£90.40)	Part B
EPC rating C	10% of Part B (£45.20)	Part B
Multiple leaseholds within the same freehold	£125	Part B

If your property comes under the new requirements for the selective licensing and is managed by Strutt and Parker your property manager will be able to complete the application on your behalf. Our charge to make the application is £250 plus VAT. Alternatively you can make the application yourself via the council’s website Private Housing | City of Westminster.

Key conditions when applying for a license:

A valid Gas Safety Certificate must be provided, if applicable.

An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) must be provided every five years.
Proof of licence holders address, if an individual.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, detectors must be installed and maintained in working order, in line with current legislation.
Property maintenance, the property must be kept in good repair and free from serious hazards.
Tenant references, reasonable steps must be taken to obtain references for new tenants.
Waste management, landlords must ensure that tenants understand how to dispose of waste responsibly and comply with local waste collection arrangements.
Anti-social behaviour, landlords must take reasonable steps to address any anti-social behaviour linked to the property.

Licences are typically granted for up to five years, unless there are concerns about compliance and failure to licence a property that comes under the new requirements, will be a criminal offence and you could face, a financial penalty of up to £30,000, prosecution and an unlimited fine and/or rent repayment order.

For further information please feel free to contact Sarah Emmerson, otherwise your property manager will be in touch separately to start the process.