Property Maintenance in Hendon

Property Maintenance in Hendon: what is different here

What a Barnet HMO licence asks you to keep

Barnet's standard HMO licence conditions turn several one-off duties into a calendar. The gas safety certificate goes to the council every year. The fixed wiring report must be under five years old and produced within 14 days of a request. Supplied appliances follow a two-year and four-year testing schedule. An EPC of at least band E goes to the council within six months of the licence.

The fire alarm needs maintaining and testing, with an inspection report available on request. On top of that, the licence holder must inspect the property at least every six months and keep a log of who inspected, when, what they found and what was done, for the whole life of the licence.

Six-monthly inspections that double as a repair list

Because the licence demands a written six-monthly inspection anyway, it makes sense to combine it with planned maintenance. On a Hendon shared house we check alarms and fire doors close properly, look at extractor fans, silicone and grout, note damaged furniture and appliances, check bins and the waste area, which Barnet's conditions also ask landlords to review every six months, and photograph each room. You receive the dated log the council asks for and a priced list of repairs, so small faults are fixed before they become licence breaches.

The student calendar and void turnarounds

Shared houses near the Middlesex University campus on The Burroughs often empty in summer and refill for the new academic year. Since 1 May 2026 those tenancies have had no fixed end date. Students can leave on two months' notice, and a student HMO landlord can use the new Ground 4A, with four months' notice, where its conditions are met: among them, the tenants were told in writing before the tenancy was agreed, and the date in the notice falls between 1 June and 30 September.

That leaves a short window for the gas check, PAT retests that are due, a legionella flush after the house has stood empty, decorating, fire door repairs and replacing worn furniture. We schedule the trades in an order that works: repairs and carpentry first, then decorating, then the final checks and certificates, so the agent receives a complete pack before keys are handed over.

Flats in converted houses and new blocks

With 47.2% of Hendon ward households renting privately in 2021 and most of them in flats, a lot of maintenance runs into the question of who owns what. In a converted house off Brent Street, the freeholder usually owns the roof, the shared supply pipe, the hall and the landlord's electrical supply, while the leaseholder owns everything inside the flat.

In the newer West Hendon blocks, a managing agent controls the communal areas and the heat network, and contractors have to follow its access rules. We record which items belong to the flat and which to the building, with photos, so you can pass the right ones on.

Tenants need to know the out-of-hours arrangement

Barnet's HMO conditions require tenants to be told in writing at the start of the tenancy how repairs and emergencies will be handled, including a 24-hour response arrangement and cover for when the manager is unavailable. We can be the named contractor for daytime repairs and same-day emergencies in our opening hours, but we do not provide a round-the-clock service, so your written arrangement needs to name who covers nights and Sundays as well. Getting that wording right avoids a licence query later.

If selective licensing reaches Hendon

Barnet consulted from June to September 2026 on selective licensing for ten wards, the NRLA and London Property Licensing reported, including West Hendon and Hendon ward, which covers Hendon Central and Church End. As of October 2026 we found no published decision. If a scheme is designated, landlords of ordinary single-household lets in those wards would need licences of their own, with conditions to manage. Keeping certificates, inspection notes and repair records in one place now means there is little to chase if that happens.

Official sources

• Barnet HMO licence conditions: inspections, gas, EICR, PAT, EPC, alarms, repair arrangements
• Barnet additional licensing dates and the 2026 selective consultation
• Barnet's proposed ten-ward selective scheme, NRLA, September 2026
• Census 2021 private renting in Hendon and West Hendon
• Middlesex University campus on The Burroughs
• Ground 4A conditions and four months' notice, GOV.UK guide to the Renters' Rights Act
• Ground 4A wording, Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2
• No new section 21 notices and no fixed terms from 1 May 2026, GOV.UK news

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.