Brent selective licensing: the records landlords must keep

Brent selective licensing is already in force, not a plan. Every home let to a single household in 21 of the borough's 22 wards needs a council licence, at £640 for a new application, and only Wembley Park is left out. If you let a flat in Kilburn, a family house in Harlesden or a maisonette in Neasden, the council expects a licence number for it.

Where does Brent selective licensing apply?

There are two designations. The first covers Dollis Hill, Harlesden & Kensal Green and Willesden Green. It started on 1 August 2023 and runs to 31 July 2028. The second covers the other 18 wards except Wembley Park. The Secretary of State confirmed it on 30 November 2023, and it started on 1 April 2024 for five years.

Wembley Park is the one ward left out, because of its high share of new housing and low levels of antisocial behaviour. A shared house there still needs a licence, because the HMO schemes cover the whole borough.

Selective licensing is for homes let to one household, a single person or two people. Shared houses come under the HMO schemes instead: mandatory licensing for five or more people, and, since 2 February 2026, additional licensing for three or four people from two or more households.

A few lettings are exempt, among them homes let by registered social landlords, business tenancies and homes under a temporary exemption notice. For anything else, Brent's online map shows whether the address is designated.

How much does a Brent licence cost?

Brent's fee table, current from 2 February 2026:

• Selective licence: £640 for a new application, paid as £340 when you apply and £300 when the licence is granted. A renewal is £600.
• Additional HMO licence: £1,040 (£540 plus £500).
• Mandatory HMO licence: £1,040, plus £25 for each habitable room over five.

Members of the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme get £40 off. If the second payment is not made within 28 days of the request, the application is cancelled and the first payment is kept. Brent aims to grant five-year licences, but cuts the term to one year where it has concerns, which means paying again much sooner.

What records does a Brent licence require?

Every Brent selective licence carries the standard conditions published in April 2023. Gas, electrics and alarms are the ones landlords expect. Several others are about paperwork, and the council can ask for it at any time:

• References: taken before letting, with evidence sent to the council within 14 days of being asked.
• Rent: a record of every payment, receipts or statements for the tenant at least monthly, and the records produced within 14 days.
• Deposits: protected, with the scheme information given to the tenant within 30 days.
• Waste: written information about bins and recycling given to new occupiers within 7 days of moving in.
• Alarms: a smoke alarm on every storey with living accommodation (a bathroom counts), a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker, and a declaration of their condition and position when asked.

Then there are the inspections. Condition 6 requires regular inspections of the property at least every six months, to check the state of repair and that the tenancy terms are being kept. Condition 11 requires the outside (roof, walls, drainage, windows, doors, garden, fences and any outbuildings) to be inspected at least every six months as well, with the inspection report sent to the council within 14 days on demand.

An inspection nobody wrote down is hard to prove when that request arrives. Over a five-year licence, that is ten inspections and ten reports to keep.

What happens if you let without a licence?

Brent's licensing page now gives a civil penalty of up to £40,000 for letting without a licence, as an alternative to prosecution and an unlimited fine. For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, tenants can apply for a rent repayment order of up to 24 months' rent. Breaching a licence condition is a separate offence, so holding a licence does not settle the matter if the records behind it are missing.

A simple routine for each Brent property

1. Check the address on Brent's map, then note the licence number and its expiry date.
2. Diarise the renewal. Brent rejects a renewal made after expiry and charges the full new application fee.
3. Keep one folder per property: gas certificate, electrical report, EPC, deposit certificate, references, rent statements and the waste letter.
4. Book an inspection every six months, inside and out, and keep the dated report.
5. Test the alarms at every visit and write the result down.

Where an inventory fits

The conditions do not mention an inventory. But a mid-term inspection is the same visit the six-monthly condition describes: each room compared with the check-in record, damp, leaks and alarms checked, the garden noted where it is part of the let, and every change photographed and dated. When the council asks for the report, you send the PDF. It does not replace a builder looking at the roof or the drains. At the start of a tenancy, a check-in inventory sets the baseline that every later report is measured against.

We cover every Brent ward, from Kilburn and Queens Park to Wembley and Kingsbury. See our inventory clerk service in Brent, or send the details and a time is agreed with you.

Related: Barnet selective licensing, the mid-term inspection and what letting agents must do differently since 1 May.

Sources: Brent Council, property licensing (designations, fees, penalties); Brent selective licence conditions, April 2023; Brent private rented property licence guidance, November 2025; Brent Council, "All landlords in Brent must now be licensed", 2 February 2026; Housing Act 2004, Part 3 on legislation.gov.uk. This is general information, not legal advice. Licensing is the landlord's responsibility and the council's own pages are the final word.