Brent Council Is Moving To Data-Led Enforcement
Property Licensing Guide for Brent
Brent currently operates selective licensing in 21 wards and additional licensing in 22 wards; mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere. Last checked: 20 October 2026.
This free guide will provide you with the key details regarding what licensing requirements are necessary in this area and how to apply for a licence.
New to this? Read our overview: What is selective licensing?
Brent is in the London registration window for the PRS database, which opens on 15 July 2027: see PRS database registration in London.
Brent Property Licensing Schemes
Wembley Park is the only Brent ward outside selective licensing. Every other ward is covered, and additional HMO licensing applies across the whole borough.
Is manual compliance causing a headache for your agency? At Kamma, we specialise in automating licensing compliance for agents across the UK. If you need any assistance in getting your property portfolio compliant, find out how we can help letting agents here.
Not sure whether a Brent property needs a licence? Kamma's free checker covers selective, additional and HMO schemes.
Check a Brent property →What are the licensing requirements for Brent?
Mandatory licensing in Brent
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across Brent (and all of England) to larger HMOs. These are properties occupied by five or more people forming more than one household, including:
- Shared houses and flats occupied by students and young professionals.
- Properties converted into bedsits with some shared facilities.
- Properties converted into a mix of self-contained and non-self-contained accommodation.
Do I need an additional property licence in Brent?
Additional licensing requires smaller HMOs in a designated area to be licensed. That means a privately rented property with three or more people forming more than one household.
Brent operates additional HMO licensing. The current designation is set out below.
Do I need a selective licence in Brent?
Selective licensing requires almost all privately rented properties in a designated area to be licensed, regardless of the number of occupants.
Brent operates selective licensing. The current designation is set out below.
Additional licensing: 2 February 2026 to 1 February 2031, borough-wide (all 22 wards).
Selective licensing: 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2028, covering Dollis Hill, Harlesden & Kensal Green and Willesden Green.
Selective licensing: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2029, covering Alperton, Barnhill, Brondesbury Park, Cricklewood & Mapesbury, Kenton, Kilburn, Kingsbury, Northwick Park, Preston, Queens Park, Queensbury, Roundwood, Stonebridge, Sudbury, Tokyngton, Welsh Harp, Wembley Central and Wembley Hill.
Mandatory HMO licensing: in force since 2006 for HMOs of five or more people forming more than one household.
How do I apply for a licence?
Apply through the council’s licensing portal: Brent Council property licensing. Brent keeps a public licensing register where you can check whether a property is licensed. Council contact: prslicensing@brent.gov.uk or 020 8937 2384. Or let Kamma’s expert team process the application for you.
How much does a licence cost?
Licence fees
| Licence | Fee |
|---|---|
| Selective licence | £640 per property |
| Additional HMO licence | £1,040 per property |
| Mandatory HMO licence | £1,040 (New application; see council page for per-room elements) |
Fees as published by the council, verified 8 October 2026; subject to change. See the council’s fee page for full schedules, payment stages and discounts.
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Brent Property Licensing FAQs
What licensing schemes does Brent operate?
Brent Council operates three licensing schemes. Selective licensing has applied in Dollis Hill, Harlesden & Kensal Green and Willesden Green since 1 August 2023 (until 31 July 2028), and in 18 further wards since 1 April 2024 (until 31 March 2029). Additional HMO licensing has applied across Brent since 2 February 2026 (until 1 February 2031). Mandatory HMO licensing has applied since 2006.
Do all properties in Brent need a licence?
Not every property in Brent needs a licence, but most privately rented homes do. Selective licensing covers rented homes in 21 of Brent’s 22 wards, all except Wembley Park. Brent’s additional licence applies to HMOs with three or four occupiers in two or more households, anywhere in the borough. Mandatory licensing applies to HMOs with five or more occupiers.
What if my property doesn't have a licence?
A Brent property that needs a licence and has none can bring civil penalties of up to £40,000 per property. The landlord also risks a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent and cannot serve a Section 21 notice. A letting agent who manages the property or collects the rent commits the offence too and can be fined separately.
Can letting agents apply on behalf of landlords?
Yes. Letting agents can apply for Brent property licences on behalf of landlords. Brent Council says the applicant must be the landlord or the agent responsible for managing the property. One Brent application form covers selective, additional and mandatory licences.
How do I apply for a Brent property licence?
Apply through Brent Council’s licensing portal: register for an account, then complete the application for a selective, additional or mandatory licence (Brent Council licensing pages). The council says a selective application takes about 15 minutes and an HMO application about 30. Fees are paid in two parts: Part 1 on application, which is non-refundable, and Part 2 when the licence is granted. Kamma can prepare and submit the application for letting agents.
Why did Brent introduce selective licensing?
Brent Council designated selective licensing in two stages. Cabinet designated Dollis Hill, Harlesden & Kensal Green and Willesden Green on 17 April 2023, in force from 1 August 2023. A second designation of 18 wards, confirmed by the Secretary of State on 30 November 2023, has been in force since 1 April 2024. Selective licensing is used to improve housing conditions and tackle anti-social behaviour in the private rented sector.
Why did Brent introduce additional licensing?
Brent Cabinet confirmed additional HMO licensing for the whole borough on 13 October 2025, in force from 2 February 2026. The council’s decision cites the scale of problems with poorly managed HMOs in the private rented sector. The scheme covers smaller HMOs that mandatory licensing does not reach.
What are the conditions to obtain an HMO licence in Brent?
Brent Council’s HMO licence conditions set standards for fire safety, amenities, room sizes and management. One document, approved on 13 October 2025, covers mandatory and additional HMO licences in Brent.
About Brent
Brent is an outer borough of London, located on the northwestern edge of the metropolis and part of the historic county of Middlesex. Established in 1965 from the amalgamation of Wembley and Willesden, Brent includes areas such as Queensbury, Kenton, Preston, Kingsbury, Neasden, Wembley, Cricklewood, Willesden, and Kilburn. The borough is named after the small River Brent, a tributary of the Thames.
Brent features Victorian suburbs, industrial zones like Park Royal, and notable sites such as the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden. The Welsh Harp Reservoir and parks like Roundwood and Gladstone provide open spaces. Brent covers 17 square miles (43 square km). Licensing is split by ward. Selective licensing began in Dollis Hill, Harlesden & Kensal Green and Willesden Green on 1 August 2023, and in 18 further wards on 1 April 2024. Wembley Park is the only ward outside it. Additional HMO licensing has covered the whole borough since 2 February 2026.
Licensing Enforcement in Brent
Brent Council enforces property licensing across its schemes. Letting a property without the required licence risks prosecution and civil penalties of up to £40,000 per property. The landlord can also face a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent. Where a letting agent manages the property or collects the rent, the agent commits the offence too and can be fined in its own right.
Brent Council says it works with the Metropolitan Police and other agencies to find unlicensed properties and take legal action. On 28 September 2026 the council reported two convictions for overcrowding and fire safety breaches at a licensed HMO in Wembley, with fines of £40,000 and £50,000 and a banning order now open against one defendant.
Neighbouring borough guides
Licensing schemes stop at the borough boundary. A property one street over can need a different licence. Guides for the neighbouring boroughs:
Applying for a property licence in Brent
A Brent licence application is made to the council on the council’s own form, with the documents that council asks for. Requirements differ between councils and change when a designation changes, which is most of why an application that was correct last year is not necessarily correct now.
Letting agents can have Kamma do it. We prepare and submit mandatory HMO, additional HMO and selective licence applications in Brent and in every other UK council area, collect the supporting documents from you or from your landlord, and monitor the application through to approval. The have Kamma submit the application page sets out what we need and what happens when a council rejects a submission.
Landlords should speak to their letting agent, who can instruct us directly.
Tracking licensing across a managed portfolio
A single Brent address can be checked by hand. An agency managing several hundred properties across Brent and the boroughs around it cannot work that way, and designations change often enough that a check made last quarter may no longer hold.
Kamma connects to the CRM your agency already works in and reads the address and tenancy fields a licensing determination depends on. The licensing position for each property then sits beside the record your team is already looking at.
Pages covering what Kamma reads from each system and how to connect it are available for Reapit, Street.co.uk, MRI Sales and Lettings, MRI Radar, Apex27, Acquaint CRM, Jupix, iamproperty, SME Professional, Rex Software, SleekTech. Alto and agentOS also integrate. The full list is on the CRM integrations page.
