Landlord licensing fees, charges and refunds

• Paying the fee

• Mandatory HMO Licensing Fee

• Additional HMO Licensing Fee

• Selective Licensing Fee

• Refunds

• Charges for serving Statutory Notices

IMPORTANT NOTICE – Licensing Fees from 1 April 2026

New licensing fees apply to all applications received on or after 1 April 2026, as approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on 7 January 2026 and 28 January 2026, and adopted by Full Council on 25 February 2026. The updated fee schedule is published in the tables below.

Please note: The Council’s online licensing portal is currently being updated to reflect the new fee amounts. During this transitional period, the portal may display or collect the previous fee. The fees published on this page are the correct fees payable.

If you submit an application through the portal and the fee collected is less than the published 2026/27 fee, the Council will contact you to arrange payment of the outstanding balance. Your application will not be processed until the correct Part A fee has been received in full. No licence will be granted until all fees, including Part B, have been paid.

We apologise for any inconvenience during this transition. If you have any questions, please contact the Housing Licensing team at housinglicensing@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

Paying the fee

These fees apply from 1 April 2025. They are reviewed annually to ensure that the schemes are cost neutral. Please ensure that your property is not exempted before making your application. Paying the full feeThe full fee can be paid at the time of the application.

We recommended you pay the full fee upfront because you will save the additional costs.

Paying in two parts

You are able to pay the fee in two parts:

1. The first payment is due at the time of the application and covers the administration costs of processing the licence.
2. The second part of the fee, is for the enforcement and management of the licensing scheme and will be due before the final licence is granted.

The higher administration fee for paying in two parts reflects the extra costs incurred by the council of processing two payments. The final licence will not be issued until the full fee has been paid.

Bulk payments

Bulk payments can be taken for agents with multiple properties.

How to pay

The fee can be paid using a UK based debit or credit card. 

Mandatory HMO Licensing fee

Additional HMO Licensing Fee

Selective Licensing

Refunds

A licence is not transferable. Where a licensed property changes ownership, the new landlord must make a full application for a new licence in his/her name. No repayment of the licence fee will be made to the existing licence holder for any unexpired period of the licence.

If the licence holder dies

If a licence holder dies during the period of the licence, the licence ceases to be in force from the date of death. For three months from the date of death the house will be treated as if a Temporary Exemption Notice (TEN) has been served. This is known as the “Initial Period”.

At any time during the initial period a formal application may be made for a TEN. The TEN will be valid for a period of three months and will take effect when the “Initial Period” ends.

Mistakes

We will give a refund for a property licence if an application was made by mistake. Situations considered to be a mistake are if:

• the property is outside the designated area

• a duplicate application has been made

• an application was made for an exempted property 

Partial refunds

We will issue you a partial refund (Part 2 of the licence fee only) if:

• you withdraw your application before the licence is granted

• we refuse your application

No refunds

We will not give you a refund if:

• you no longer require a licence

• we revoke your licence

• you are refused planning permission (after the licence is granted) for works required to your property

If you cancel your licence

Licence fees are not connected to the length of a licence. If you cancel your licence before it expires, we cannot give you a refund.

Charges for serving statutory notices

Housing Act 2004 Part 1 Enforcement Notice served. The fee for serving Statutory Notices is £845.