LetLens / Licensing by council / Merton
Landlord licensing in Merton
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Merton let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Merton also runs additional HMO licensing and selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing.
The licence you need turns on who lives in the property. Find the line that describes your let.
- Required by national lawThe same in all 296 English councils. Not a Merton decision.
Your propertyLet to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet
You needMandatory HMO licence In force England-wide
It costs£2,142.78 for a 5-bedroom HMOband 5-5 units
WhereEverywhere in Merton, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Merton requires on topSchemes this council chose to run, and what differs from the council next door.
Your propertyA smaller shared house the national scheme does not reach, typically 3 or 4 sharers forming 2 or more households
You needAdditional HMO licence In force
It costs£1,674 for a 4-bedroom HMOband 4-9999 bedrooms
Where7 designated wards, not the whole of Merton. Scope, fee schedule and source
Your propertyLet privately inside a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO
You needSelective licence In force
It costs£747.60, the same for a rental of any size
Where4 designated wards, not the whole of Merton. Scope, fee schedule and source
- Planning permission, a separate questionNot licensing. Whether you may create an HMO at all, decided by the council’s planning side.
Your planConverting a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4)
You needPlanning permission In force
WhereInside the designated area: part of the council area, see the direction below. There is no part of the council outside it. The direction, its dates and its boundary
Each fee is for the example property named on its own line, from the council’s published schedule. Other sizes are priced separately; the full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.
Or open SW19 3DF, a postcode near the centre of Merton, to see what a full report looks like.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Merton, in the council’s own words, with the designations in force, the whole published fee schedule and the source for every figure. The three regimes can stack: a property can need a licence under one and still be caught by another.
Mandatory HMO licensing In force England-wide
Fee, 5-bed HMO£2,142.78band 5-5 units
- Where it applies
- National scheme
- Which properties
- House in multiple occupation where 5 or more people live, forming 2 or more households, sharing facilities (statutory mandatory HMO licensing, borough-wide)
The published fee schedule
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2026/27
Fee by number of units, all 9 bands
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | £1,949.79 | £1,097.42 + £852.37 |
| 3 | £2,014.12 | £1,161.75 + £852.37 |
| 4 | £2,078.45 | £1,226.08 + £852.37 |
| 5 | £2,142.78 | £1,290.41 + £852.37 |
| 6 | £2,207.11 | £1,354.74 + £852.37 |
| 7 | £2,271.44 | £1,419.07 + £852.37 |
| 8 | £2,335.77 | £1,483.40 + £852.37 |
| 9 | £2,400.10 | £1,547.73 + £852.37 |
| 10 or more | £2,464.43 | £1,612.06 + £852.37 |
Other charges
- Pre-licensing consultation: £180
Additional HMO licensing In force
Fee, 4-bed HMO£1,674band 4-9999 bedrooms
- Where it applies
- 7 designated wards
- Which properties
- All HMOs (as defined by s254 Housing Act 2004) occupied by 3 or more persons comprising 2 or more households, that are not already required to be licensed under mandatory HMO licensing (i.e. smaller HMOs, typically 3-4 persons)
- Designations in force
- London Borough of Merton Designation of an Area for Additional Licensing 2023
- Designation period
- 24 September 2023 to 23 September 2028
London Borough of Merton Designation of an Area for Additional Licensing 2023 covers Colliers Wood, Cricket Green, Figge's Marsh, Graveney, Lavender Fields, Longthornton, Pollards Hill.
The published fee schedule
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2026/27
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | £1,566 | £267 + £1,299 |
| 3 | £1,620 | £267 + £1,353 |
| 4 or more | £1,674 | £267 + £1,407 |
Discounts
- Accredited landlord discount: £50
Other charges
- Pre-licensing consultation: £180
Selective licensing In force
Licence fee, any size£747.60
- Where it applies
- 4 designated wards
- Which properties
- A house occupied under a single tenancy or licence (or under two or more tenancies/licences of different dwellings) that is not exempt, in the designated wards; excludes HMOs licensable under mandatory or additional licensing and RSL/management-order/exempt tenancies
- Designations in force
- London Borough of Merton Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing 2023
- Designation period
- 24 September 2023 to 23 September 2028
London Borough of Merton Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing 2023 covers Figge's Marsh, Graveney, Longthornton, Pollards Hill.
The published fee schedule
- Fee
- £747.60
- Paid in two parts
- £267 on application, then £480.60 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2026/27
Discounts
- Accredited landlord discount: £50
Other charges
- Pre-licensing consultation: £180
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Merton In force
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Merton covering 2 separate areas of the council, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. Every one of Merton's 3,686 postcodes is inside a designated area.
HMO Article 4 direction, part of the council area, see the direction below
- Area
- part of the council area, see the direction below
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- Made
- 17 November 2022
- In force from
- 17 November 2022
HMO Article 4 direction, part of the council area, see the direction below
- Area
- part of the council area, see the direction below
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- Made
- 24 March 2026
- In force from
- 24 March 2026
A licence is not planning permission
These are two separate consents from two separate parts of the council, and getting one does not give you the other. A licensing team can grant an HMO licence for a property that needed planning permission and never got it.
Where the permission was needed and is missing, the usual consequence lands on the licence. Councils commonly grant a short licence, often twelve months rather than the full term, to give the owner time to apply. If permission is not applied for, is refused, or an appeal fails, the council will generally refuse to extend and let the licence expire, and will generally refuse a fresh application outright once permission has been finally refused. At that point the property cannot lawfully be let as an HMO at all.
This is council practice rather than a statutory rule, and it varies, so confirm it with Merton before you rely on it. Nottingham City Council publishes its version explicitly and is quoted here as a worked example of the approach.
The research note behind this verdict
What happens if you let without a licence
Letting or managing an unlicensed property that needs a licence is a criminal offence, under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004 for an HMO and section 95 for a property caught by selective licensing. A council can prosecute, or impose a civil penalty instead. For conduct on or after 1 May 2026 that penalty can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants and the council can also apply for a rent repayment order, which for conduct from the same date can claw back up to two years of rent, up from one, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
Both of those maxima apply only to conduct on or after 1 May 2026. Earlier conduct is still judged against the old £30,000 and twelve-month limits. Each breach is normally penalised separately, so an unlicensed portfolio in Merton multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Merton
Licensing is only one side of the sum. These are medians from real listings we have collected, with the number of listings behind each one, because a median over a handful of adverts is a different claim from a median over hundreds.
- Median room rent£876 pcmFrom 504 room listings in Merton.
- Median whole-property rent£1,918 pcmFrom 166 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£2,958 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+48%Five rooms let individually against one four-bedroom whole-property let, before the extra cost, licensing and voids that come with an HMO.
- Median sale price£515,058Across 450 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
- Gross yield, whole let4.5%Median whole-property rent for a year against the median sale price. Before voids, management, repairs, licensing and finance, all of which a real return has to carry.
- Gross yield, 5-room HMO10.2%Five rooms at the median room rent against the same median sale price. The higher figure is what pays for the licence, the extra management and the higher voids, rather than being profit on top of them.
- Typical household income£54,056Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure6.9%255 of 3,686 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 381 (2.2%)The Environment Agency's highest-probability zone. Lenders and insurers ask about this one by name, and it is a subset of the exposure above.
Room rent by outcode
Room rent varies by £100 a month across Merton’s outcodes, so the council-wide median above is a starting point rather than the answer for a particular street.
| Outcode | Median room rent | Room listings | Check a postcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW19 | £900 pcm | 373 | Check SW19 |
| CR4 | £835 pcm | 28 | Check CR4 |
| SM4 | £800 pcm | 100 | Check SM4 |
Postcode districts in Merton
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 3,686 Merton postcodes. Open one of its postcode districts to see the verdict, the local rent evidence and the investment model.
Common questions
Do I need an HMO licence in Merton?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Merton let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Merton also runs additional HMO licensing and selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Additional HMO licensing covers 7 designated wards. Selective licensing covers 4 designated wards.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Merton?
£2,142.78 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: band 5-5 units. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Merton?
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Merton covering 2 separate areas of the council, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. Every one of Merton's 3,686 postcodes is inside a designated area.
Which wards in Merton are covered by licensing?
Additional HMO licensing under London Borough of Merton Designation of an Area for Additional Licensing 2023 covers Colliers Wood, Cricket Green, Figge's Marsh, Graveney, Lavender Fields, Longthornton, Pollards Hill. Selective licensing under London Borough of Merton Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing 2023 covers Figge's Marsh, Graveney, Longthornton, Pollards Hill. A designation can cover only part of a named ward, so check the exact address rather than relying on the ward name alone.
What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Merton?
Letting or managing a property that needs a licence without one is a criminal offence under the Housing Act 2004. The council can prosecute or impose a civil penalty, which for conduct on or after 1 May 2026 can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants or the council can also seek a rent repayment order covering up to two years of rent for conduct from that date, up from one year, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Each breach is normally penalised separately. Indicative only, not legal advice.
Do I need planning permission for an HMO in Merton?
Where an Article 4 direction applies, yes: it removes the permitted-development right to change a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4), so that change needs a planning application. An HMO for seven or more residents needs permission anywhere, Article 4 or not. Planning is separate from licensing, and a licence does not give you permission. Where permission was needed and not obtained, councils commonly grant a licence for about twelve months rather than the full term, and generally refuse to extend it if permission is not then granted, which leaves the property unable to be let as an HMO. Practice varies by council, so confirm it with Merton.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Merton without planning permission?
Not inside the Article 4 area. The direction removes the permitted-development right, so a change of use from C3 to C4 needs a planning application. The direction covers the whole of Merton, so there is no part of the council where the right still applies.
About Merton
Merton is a local housing authority in London, with a population of about 206,000 and 3,686 live postcodes indexed by LetLens. It is the licensing authority for every private rented property inside its boundary, and the local planning authority that decides whether an Article 4 direction applies.
Nearby councils
Licensing stops at the council boundary, so a street on the other side of it can carry a different scheme and a different fee.
Contact Merton
Merton licensing team · [email protected] · 020 8545 3460