As part of a city council plan to tackle substandard housing and curb anti-social behaviour, landlords in certain areas of Lambeth will be required to purchase a £923 licence to rent out properties.

People renting a single property to fewer than three households in Knight’s Hill, Streatham Common and Vale, Streatham Hill East and Streatham St Leonard’s will be required to obtain a licence from September.

The four boroughs of Lambeth were chosen to introduce the programme because the number of buildings in these boroughs is almost twice the national average.

Around 8,600 properties across the four boroughs are expected to fall under the new selective licensing system, which will run for five years until 2029.

The Labour-led council will unveil plans in the autumn to roll out the scheme across a wider area of ​​the borough. The proposals would see the scheme extended to all wards in the borough, except Vauxhall, Waterloo and South Bank.

National legislation requires local authorities to introduce licensing schemes only in areas where there is sufficient evidence of poor housing quality. However, the local council could not find sufficient evidence of poor housing quality in Vauxhall, Waterloo and South Bank to support the introduction of the scheme there.

Landlords who own properties with an energy rating of C or better will receive a £50 discount on the proposed £923 licence cost. Those who are members of an accredited landlord association will receive a £75 discount. Landlords who own more than one flat in a building will also receive a discount.

The first phase of the plan, which includes Knight’s Hill, Streatham Common and Vale, Streatham Hill East and Streatham St Leonard’s, was approved at a Lambeth Council cabinet meeting last Thursday (16 May).

Around a third of Lambeth’s 144,985 homes are privately rented, and government and council figures suggest 9,446 of these could be at serious risk. Authorities expect around 39,851 properties in the borough could be included in the new selective licensing system.

About 5,000 privately rented homes in the borough are already subject to two other licensing schemes. Since 2018, county-wide rules have required a licence for all properties rented to five or more unrelated people sharing a kitchen or bathroom. In addition, some landlords who rent properties to three or four households sharing facilities are required to obtain a licence under an existing scheme run by the council.

Cllr Mahamed Hashi, the council’s cabinet member for safer communities, said: “This scheme will provide more support to vulnerable residents, improve the conditions of premises and help reduce overcrowding. Ultimately, it will lead to better housing for our residents.”

“While most landlords provide high quality and safe accommodation, there are also some who exploit their tenants or are unaware of their responsibilities. Licensing will help us to crack down on unscrupulous landlords and take decisive action against violations of tenancy law.”

Lambeth is the latest in a number of inner south London councils to introduce a licensing scheme for landlords who rent out flats to one or two households. Southwark Council has expanded its licensing scheme for such properties to a total of 19 boroughs in November 2023.

In Lewisham, landlords who rent properties to fewer than three households will need a licence from July 1. The Lewisham scheme is designed to cover an additional 20,000 properties in the borough, where a quarter of residents are private renters.