Apply for a private rented property licence
How to apply for a private rented property licence and what happens next.
Before you apply
Before you apply on our property portal make sure you have to hand:
- What type of licence your property needs
- Room sizes and property facilities
- Details about the property structure and safety equipment
- Name and addresses of people and organisations with an interest in the property
- Payment card details
- Licence holder’s date of birth
You will need to submit the following documents when you apply:
- Floor plans of the property (this can be a basic layout of each floor with room sizes, in square metres, for each room)
- Landlord accreditation certificate (if you have one)
- Electrical safety certificate
- Gas safety certificate (if needed)
- Fire risk assessment if your property is a HMO
- Fire alarm certificate
Fit and proper person test
The licence holder will need to show that they are a ‘fit and proper’ person.
This will involve making a declaration on criminal offences. In deciding if an applicant is fit and proper, we must know if they have:
- Committed any offence involving fraud or other dishonesty, violence, drugs and certain sexual offences
- Unlawfully discriminated on the grounds of sex, colour, race, ethnic or national origins or disability in connection with any business
- Broken any part of the law relating to housing or landlord and tenant law
The licence holder must also show that satisfactory management and financial arrangements are in place for each rented property.
If you do not meet the fit and proper person test a licence application may be refused.
Find out more in the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.
Council freehold properties
If we own the freehold for your licensable property, you will need to add the following details on the application form:
- First names: Wandsworth Home Ownership
- Surname: Principal Leasehold and Procurement Officer
- Organisation name: London Borough of Wandsworth
- Address: Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street, London, SW18 2PU
- Phone number: 020 8871 8361
- Email address: hlandp@wandsworth.gov.uk
You must ask us for permission before carrying out any alterations to a council freehold property. Contact us at hlandp@wandsworth.gov.uk.
Fees
Licence fees are paid in two parts:
- Part A is paid when you submit your application
- Part B is paid when your licence is issued
See property licence fees and discounts.
Make an application
You need to apply for a licence online.
After you have applied
After you have applied and paid for your licence, we may contact you to arrange an appointment to inspect the property.
Property inspection
The inspection will:
- Check what you’ve put in your application form
- Carry out a risk assessment of the conditions at your property
The risk assessment is used to make a quick assessment of the condition of your property and to prioritise any necessary further inspections.
We will then send you and any other interested parties a notice of intention to licence or a notice of refusal to grant a licence.
Representations
Once we have sent you the draft licence or refusals, you or anyone wanting to make representations will have 14 days to tell us if you disagree with our decision.
We may contact you to discuss your representation. If we do not agree with it, we will issue a full licence with the same conditions stated in the draft. If we agree with any of the representations, we will issue a new draft licence. It will list the changed conditions.
There will then be another 14-day representation period of all interested parties.
If we do not receive any representations we will let you know if the licence has been granted or refused. Where a licence has been granted, you will receive the full licence.
Appeals
You can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) if you disagree with the full licence or a final decision to refuse a licence after a representation. This is an independent body.
You must make appeals within 28 days of the decision being appealed against. You will generally need to pay a fee.
After you receive your licence
After we issue a full licence, we may visit the property. We will make sure the license holder has met all the conditions.
For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact us at privatehousing@wandsworth.gov.uk.