LetLens / Licensing by council / Newham

Landlord licensing in Newham

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Newham let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Newham 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 Newham 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£1,400 for a 5-bedroom HMOband 1-5 units
WhereEverywhere in Newham, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
What Newham 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£1,250, the same for an HMO of any size
Where22 designated wards, not the whole of Newham. 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£750, the same for a rental of any size
Where22 designated wards, not the whole of Newham. 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: the whole council area. 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.

Most recent source check: 6 August 2026. Each figure below carries the date its own source was read.

Or open E13 9AW, a postcode near the centre of Newham, to see what a full report looks like.

Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it

Which properties each scheme catches in Newham, 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

Set by national law, not by the council. Any property let to five or more people forming two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet needs a licence, anywhere in England.

Fee, 5-bed HMO£1,400band 1-5 units

Where it applies: National scheme
Which properties: House in multiple occupation shared by five or more people forming two or more households

The published fee schedule

Licence term: Up to 5 years
Fee schedule dated: 2023

Fee by number of units, all 11 bands

Size	Fee	Part 1 + part 2
1 to 5	£1,400	£450 + £950
6 to 9	£1,550	£450 + £1,100
10 to 14	£1,700	£450 + £1,250
15 to 19	£1,850	£450 + £1,400
20 to 29	£2,600	£600 + £2,000
30 to 39	£3,350	£750 + £2,600
40 to 49	£4,100	£900 + £3,200
50 to 59	£4,850	£1,050 + £3,800
60 to 69	£5,600	£1,200 + £4,400
70 to 79	£6,350	£1,350 + £5,000
80 or more	£7,100	£1,500 + £5,600

Other charges

Paper application administration (in addition to online fee): £100
Reprinting a lost licence: £12
Change to HMO (single dwelling to 3-4 person HMO): £800
Change from HMO to single dwelling: £150

Council source · How to apply · read 6 August 2026

Additional HMO licensing In force

A council may extend HMO licensing to smaller HMOs, typically three or four sharers, across all or part of its area.

Licence fee, any size£1,250

Where it applies: 22 designated wards
Which properties: Houses in multiple occupation shared by three or four persons forming two or more households (HMOs not caught by mandatory licensing), meeting the standard test, self-contained flat test or converted building test under s.254 Housing Act 2004
Designations in force: London Borough of Newham Designation for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation No.1 2023
Designation period: 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2027

London Borough of Newham Designation for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation No.1 2023 covers Beckton, Boleyn, Canning Town North, Canning Town South, Custom House, East Ham, East Ham South, Forest Gate North, Forest Gate South, Green Street East, Green Street West, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Maryland, Plaistow North, Plaistow South, Plaistow West & Canning Town East, Plashet, Royal Albert, Stratford, Wall End, West Ham.

A designation can cover only part of a named ward, so check the exact address rather than relying on the ward name alone.

The published fee schedule

Fee: £1,250
Paid in two parts: £400 on application, then £850 when the licence is granted
Licence term: Up to 5 years
Fee schedule dated: 2023

Other charges

Additional HMO, newly private rented, EPC C or above (Part A): £250
Additional HMO, newly private rented, EPC C or above (Part B): £550
Additional HMO, newly private rented, EPC C or above (total): £800

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Selective licensing In force

A council may require a licence for every private rented home in a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO.

Licence fee, any size£750

Where it applies: 22 designated wards
Which properties: All privately rented residential accommodation let under single or multiple tenancies/licences that is not a mandatory or additional HMO and is not otherwise exempt (single household or up to two unrelated persons)
Designations in force: London Borough of Newham Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing No.1 2023
Designation period: 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2028

London Borough of Newham Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing No.1 2023 covers Beckton, Boleyn, Canning Town North, Canning Town South, Custom House, East Ham, East Ham South, Forest Gate North, Forest Gate South, Green Street East, Green Street West, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Maryland, Plaistow North, Plaistow South, Plaistow West & Canning Town East, Plashet, Royal Albert, Stratford, Wall End, West Ham.

A designation can cover only part of a named ward, so check the exact address rather than relying on the ward name alone.

The published fee schedule

Fee: £750
Paid in two parts: £400 on application, then £350 when the licence is granted
Licence term: Up to 5 years
Fee schedule dated: 2023

Discounts

Accredited landlord association membership: £50
Accredited membership plus EPC C or higher: £50

Other charges, all 7

Selective, accredited member with EPC A+/A/B/C (reduced online total): £650
Selective, newly private rented, EPC C or above (Part A): £250
Selective, newly private rented, EPC C or above (Part B): £150
Selective, newly private rented, EPC C or above (total): £400
LB Newham nightly paid temporary accommodation (total): £400
Multi-dwelling selective, second property onwards (Part A): £350
Multi-dwelling selective, second property onwards (total): £700

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Newham In force

An HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Newham covering the whole council area, 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 Newham's 4,388 postcodes is inside a designated area.

HMO Article 4 direction, the whole council area

London Borough of Newham Article 4 Direction - Planning Controls over Houses in Multiple Occupation (C3 to C4)

Area: the whole council area
Right removed: C3 to C4 (small HMO)
Made: 31 July 2012
Confirmed: 10 June 2013
In force from: 31 July 2013

Council notice or order

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 Newham before you rely on it. Nottingham City Council publishes its version explicitly and is quoted here as a worked example of the approach.

Nottingham City Council, HMO and permitted development. Indicative only, not planning or legal advice.

The research note behind this verdict

Confirmed from Newham's OFFICIAL statutory confirmation notice (Article 5(11) notice, signed by Jo Negrini, Director, dated 3 July 2013). Direction made 31 July 2012 under Article 4(1) GPDO 1995, confirmed 10 June 2013, came into force 31 July 2013. Removes PD right for change of use from Class C3 (dwellinghouse) to Class C4 (HMO). Area: the WHOLE of the London Borough of Newham SAVE FOR the area within the control of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) - i.e. effectively borough-wide minus the LLDC/Olympic Park planning area in the north-west of the borough (Stratford). Treated as area_type 'boroughwide' with the LLDC carve-out noted. No ward-specific or street-specific restriction.

Newham Article 4 page · checked 25 July 2026

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 Newham multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.

Sources: Housing Act 2004 s72 · SI 2026/319 · Renters' Rights Act 2025 s103 · Shelter Legal England. Indicative only, not legal advice.

The letting market in Newham

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£852 pcmFrom 1,444 room listings in Newham.
Median whole-property rent£2,122 pcmFrom 274 whole-property listings.
Typical 4-bed rent£2,927 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
HMO income premium+46%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£415,000Across 374 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
Gross yield, whole let6.1%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 HMO12.3%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£47,887Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
Postcodes with flood exposure47.2%2,072 of 4,388 indexed postcodes.
Postcodes in Flood Zone 31,919 (43.7%)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 £268 a month across Newham’s outcodes, so the council-wide median above is a starting point rather than the answer for a particular street.

Median room rent by outcode in Newham
Outcode	Median room rent	Room listings	Check a postcode
E16	£1,018 pcm	463	Check E16
E7	£800 pcm	214	Check E7
E12	£794 pcm	136	Check E12
E13	£760 pcm	261	Check E13
E6	£750 pcm	340	Check E6

Postcode districts in Newham

Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 4,388 Newham 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 Newham?

How much does an HMO licence cost in Newham?

£1,400 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: band 1-5 units. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.

Is there an Article 4 direction in Newham?

Which wards in Newham are covered by licensing?

Additional HMO licensing under London Borough of Newham Designation for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation No.1 2023 covers Beckton, Boleyn, Canning Town North, Canning Town South, Custom House, East Ham, East Ham South, Forest Gate North, Forest Gate South, Green Street East, Green Street West, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Maryland, Plaistow North, Plaistow South, Plaistow West & Canning Town East, Plashet, Royal Albert, Stratford, Wall End, West Ham. Selective licensing under London Borough of Newham Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing No.1 2023 covers Beckton, Boleyn, Canning Town North, Canning Town South, Custom House, East Ham, East Ham South, Forest Gate North, Forest Gate South, Green Street East, Green Street West, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Maryland, Plaistow North, Plaistow South, Plaistow West & Canning Town East, Plashet, Royal Albert, Stratford, Wall End, West Ham. 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 Newham?

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 Newham?

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 Newham.

Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Newham 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 Newham, so there is no part of the council where the right still applies.

About Newham

Newham is a local housing authority in London, with a population of about 355,000 and 4,388 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 Newham

Newham licensing team · [email protected] · 020 8430 2000