Harrow selective licensing: wards, dates, fee and conditions

Since 2026, Harrow Council has required a selective licence for every privately rented home in six wards, unless an exemption applies. Edgware and Roxeth wards started on 2 May 2026, Greenhill and Marlborough on 6 July 2026, and Wealdstone North and Wealdstone South on 1 September 2026. Each designation lasts five years, and a licence costs £786. Checked 28 October 2026.

This guide covers the Harrow scheme in detail: which addresses it reaches, what it costs, what the council asks for when you apply, and what the licence conditions require of you afterwards. We are EliteShires Property Services, based in Kenton, and we carry out the gas, electrical and appliance checks the application relies on. If you are not sure which council your address is in, start with our guide to licensing across Harrow, Brent and Barnet. Our certificate and licence checker then lists the duties for your let.

Which Harrow wards need a selective licence?

Edgware, Roxeth, Greenhill, Marlborough, Wealdstone North and Wealdstone South need a selective licence, and all six designations were in force by 1 September 2026. The table gives each ward's start date and the share of its households that rented privately at the 2021 Census. All six have high levels of private renting; Harrow says it chose them on evidence of poor housing conditions, anti-social behaviour and management standards.

Harrow's selective licensing wards (designations checked on harrow.gov.uk, 28 October 2026)

For comparison, 29.6% of households across Harrow rented privately in 2021. The rest of the borough has no selective scheme. That includes Kenton East, Kenton West, Stanmore, Canons, Belmont, Headstone and Harrow on the Hill.

How do you check if your address is covered?

Use the full postcode, not the district. Harrow's ward boundaries cut through postcode districts, and HA8 7 is a good example. Some HA8 7 addresses near Edgware are in the licensed Edgware ward, while others nearby are in Canons ward, which is not licensed.

1. Put the full postcode into GOV.UK's find your local council tool. Parts of HA3 and HA8 are in Brent or Barnet, not Harrow.
2. Put it into the postcode checker on Harrow's selective licence areas page.
3. Save a screenshot of the result with the date. If the council ever queries why you did or did not apply, it shows what you checked.

If the address turns out to be in Brent, read our guide to Brent licensing on the Kenton side instead.

Which homes are exempt?

Licensable HMOs, homes let by registered social landlords, long leaseholds and student halls run by recognised educational institutions are exempt, along with the other cases in the Housing Act 2004 and its 2006 exemptions order.

The HMO exemption is the one that matters most locally. A house let to five or more sharers needs a mandatory HMO licence instead of a selective one. For smaller shared houses, Harrow's previous additional HMO licensing scheme ended on 5 August 2026. Harrow's HMO licence page says a new scheme has been approved and is due to start on 6 January 2027, for homes of three or four people in two or more households who share facilities, and that landlords can apply before then (checked 28 October 2026). Our guide to Harrow's HMO Article 4 and HMO licensing explains what to check.

What does Harrow ask for when you apply?

Harrow's apply page has listed seven things for a selective licence application: a gas safety certificate (if there is gas), an electrical safety certificate, an EPC, a floor plan, the tenancy agreement, an anti-social behaviour plan and the £686 administration fee. Three are certificates that we or another qualified firm produce. The rest are management documents you prepare yourself. When we checked on 28 October 2026, the page no longer showed the list and sent applicants straight to the online form, so check the form's own list as you go.

What Harrow's selective licence application asks for (as Harrow's apply page listed it; archived June 2026 copy in Sources)

Check the dates on your certificates before you start the form. A gas record due to expire within weeks will be asked for again soon, so renew it first. A check in the two months before the due date keeps your existing anniversary. Our guide to how long an EICR lasts explains when a report needs redoing early. The EPC minimum is E today; the planned move to C is covered in EPC C by 2030.

What do the licence conditions require once you have it?

Every selective licence in England carries the national conditions in Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004, and Harrow adds its own. Harrow's Cabinet approved updated conditions on 18 December 2025, and Harrow said new and renewal applications after that date would be subject to them. The national conditions are these:

• Gas. Where gas is supplied, produce a gas safety certificate from the last 12 months to the council every year. Harrow also asks for it at application.
• Appliances and furniture. Keep what you supply safe, and give the council a declaration of their safety on demand. Harrow asks for the appliance declaration at application too.
• Electrical installation. Keep every electrical installation in proper working order and safe for continued use, with a declaration on demand.
• Smoke alarms. One on each storey with a room used as living accommodation, kept in working order, with a declaration on their condition and position on demand. We fit mains-interlinked or ten-year sealed alarms.
• Carbon monoxide. An alarm in any room used as living accommodation that has a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker, kept working, with a declaration on demand. Our guide to smoke and carbon monoxide alarm rules covers both alarm duties.
• Terms of occupation. Give the occupiers a written statement of the terms on which they live there.

Harrow's own conditions go further. In the draft Harrow published for its 2025 consultation, they ask you to:

• Heat the home. Provide fixed heating with adjustable controls that can keep habitable rooms at 21°C.
• Secure the doors. Fit the front door with a five-lever mortice lock (thumb turn) or equivalent, and change the relevant locks before re-letting if previous occupants did not return their keys. We do planned lock changes; see changing locks between tenants.
• Deal with pests within 5 working days of being told, and keep the water supply and drains working.
• Keep the outside in order. Gardens, yards and forecourts reasonably clean and tidy, and the exterior in "reasonable decorative order and state of repair", with planning permission where needed.
• Manage the waste. Give each new tenant Harrow's waste and recycling guide and the collection days in writing, provide bins for general, recycling and food waste, and clear waste left beside the bins within 5 working days of a report.
• Inspect and keep records. Inspect the property regularly and keep a record of each visit. Harrow can carry out its own compliance check on 24 hours' notice.

For the appliance condition, the question is what evidence to keep. Harrow does not set a PAT interval for selective licences, and PAT testing is not a legal requirement for a private let. A dated test record and asset register is still the simplest way to stand behind the declaration you sign. Our page on PAT testing in Harrow covers Harrow's appliance declaration and instructions file.

When should you book the checks for a Harrow application?

Book the EICR and gas check early enough that any remedial work is finished before you apply; our full certificate checklist sets out the order, and our licensing guide covers what to have ready. If a check fails, our guide to what happens after a failed safety check sets out the deadlines. We send EICR reports within 48 hours and leave the gas record on the day.

Our landlord EICR and gas safety checks are each priced at a fixed fee confirmed before we attend.

How much does a licence cost, and how long does it take?

A Harrow selective licence costs £786, for a new application or a renewal. You pay the £686 administration fee when you apply, and Harrow asks for the £100 management and enforcement fee before it issues the licence (Harrow's fees page, checked 28 October 2026). Councils revise their fees, so check the page before you apply. A licence lasts up to five years, depending on your compliance history.

Harrow gives no processing time, and its apply page warns that a high volume of applications may delay reviewing and validating them. An officer may arrange an inspection or ask for more information. Once Harrow issues a draft licence, a 14-day consultation period follows before the licence itself. Apply as soon as your certificates are in order. A home in one of the six wards needed a licence, or a valid application, from its ward's start date.

What happens if you let in these wards without a licence?

Letting a licensable home without a licence is a criminal offence, and since 1 May 2026 councils can also impose civil penalties of up to £40,000 (Housing Act 2004, section 249A); Harrow has already prosecuted a landlord over a suspected unlicensed HMO in Edgware. Our licensing guide covers the penalties and that case, and our guide to the Renters' Rights Act explains the wider changes behind the higher fines.

Which other Harrow licensing rules should you know?

Two other Harrow rules can apply alongside selective licensing: mandatory HMO licensing, for five or more sharers anywhere in the borough, and planning control for new small HMOs. Since 12 June 2026, turning a family house into a small HMO for three to six people also needs planning permission, under an Article 4 direction Harrow confirmed on 14 October 2026. Both are covered in our guide to Harrow's HMO Article 4 and planning-first rule.

The new private rented sector database will ask whether each property needs a selective licence, and for the licence number. That is under draft regulations awaiting Parliament's approval when we checked; see our guide to the landlord register.

For the safety conditions compared across Harrow, Brent and Barnet, read what council licence conditions ask for. Our Harrow area page lists the services we book in these wards.

To book locally, see EICR in Harrow, gas safety certificate in Harrow, PAT testing in Harrow, painting and decorating in Harrow, PAT testing in Edgware and painting and decorating in Edgware.