Private landlords across most of Greenwich borough will need licensing to let homes out from next year if council plans are approved.
Greenwich Council already operates a licensing scheme in Woolwich, Plumstead and Shooters Hill, but said its experiences in discovering damp and mould, fire risks, pests and other hazards persuaded it that a wider scheme was necessary.
Councils cannot simply declare that the private rentals across their entire borough need to have licenses, instead each ward needs to be assessed against certain criteria.
Greenwich is now proposing licensing homes across the whole borough except Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham ward in the far south of the borough; Eltham Park & Progress; Kidbrooke Village & Sutcliffe; Greenwich Peninsula; Creekside; and the area of Woolwich Arsenal ward north of the A206.
Most of the exempt areas are left out because they either have very little private rented housing or because an assessment found that few issues were expected with private rented housing there, alongside lower levels of deprivation.
All other areas are set to have licensing, subject to a formal consultation which is due to begin next week.
Abbey Wood, Charlton Village & Riverside, Plumstead & Glyndon, Thamesmead Moorings, Woolwich Common, Woolwich Dockyard and the southern part of Woolwich Arsenal wards are chosen because there is evidence of poor housing conditions, alongside higher levels of deprivation.
Blackheath Westcombe, Charlton Hornfair, East Greenwich, Eltham Town & Avery Hill, Greenwich Park, Kidbrooke Park, Plumstead Common, Shooters Hill, West Thamesmead are all chosen because there is evidence of poor housing conditions. While Eltham Page and Middle Park & Horn Park are chosen because of poor housing conditions evidenced by “significantly elevated levels of serious housing hazards”.
Landlords would have to pay £974 per property, which would cover the five years the scheme is in force for, according to documents published on the council website.
“Serious hazards and poor housing conditions remain a significant issue in parts of the borough, extending beyond the areas currently covered by selective licensing,” the council says in a report published this week.
“Many existing powers are most effective once a problem has already been identified, often through complaints or case-by-case intelligence, which means hazards are not always detected early, particularly where residents feel unable or reluctant to report concerns. As a result, current approaches are frequently reactive, resource-intensive, and reliant on tenant engagement, which can be inconsistent and may exclude those most vulnerable or least able to advocate for themselves.”
“Selective licensing is proposed because it offers a more consistent, structured and proactive approach to addressing these systemic limitations. By requiring landlords to apply for a licence and comply with clear conditions, it sets a baseline expectation for property condition and management, enables routine monitoring and improved intelligence, and supports targeted, risk-based deployment of council resources.”
HMOs already need licences, and the council’s new local plan – which also goes out to consultation later this month – includes plans to make it harder for landlords to convert family houses to bedsits.
If the formal consultation supports the licensing scheme for private rented homes, it is expected to be introduced in the spring.
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