From 1 July, Wandsworth Council will introduce a sweeping new licensing regime for privately rented homes—a move that marks a major departure from the borough’s traditionally hands-off approach to the rental market.
For the first time, smaller shared homes—known as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)—with just three or four unrelated tenants will require a licence across the entire borough. Previously, only large HMOs with five or more tenants were covered under mandatory national rules.
More significantly, in four wards in and around Tooting—Furzedown, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway, and South Balham—all privately rented homes will now require a licence, regardless of whether they are shared or rented to a single household. That includes one-bedroom flats, family homes, and anything in between. This “selective licensing” model does not yet extend to other parts of the borough, such as Putney or Battersea.
Affected landlords will need to apply for a licence, pay fees of up to £2,000 per property, and demonstrate compliance with a range of legal and safety standards. These include fire and electrical safety certificates, adequate room sizes, tenancy agreements, and proper protection of deposits. If landlords fail to comply, they could face civil penalties of up to £30,000 or be ordered to repay up to a year’s rent to their tenants.
The goal: improved living conditions
Wandsworth’s Labour-led administration says the scheme is aimed at improving living conditions for the third of residents who now rent privately. The council will also gain new powers to inspect properties without requiring consent and can intervene where housing standards fall short. Tenants who raise complaints about damp, disrepair or overcrowding will be better protected from retaliatory evictions, particularly through new restrictions on the use of “no-fault” Section 21 notices—one of the most contentious tools in London’s rental market.
Cabinet member for housing Aydin Dikerdem has framed the changes as a clampdown on rogue landlords and a signal that the council is prepared to intervene when standards slip. In theory, the new licensing system will offer safer homes, greater accountability, and clearer legal protections—particularly for renters living in shared housing or low-quality accommodation.
Despite claiming the new approach as groundbreaking, however, licensing schemes of this kind are common in parts of inner London with high levels of deprivation, such as Newham and Brent — where they have had mixed results.
Critics argue that licensing schemes add cost and bureaucracy without always delivering clear results. The approach can end up penalising responsible landlords while the worst offenders continue to operate under the radar. In a number of London boroughs, enforcement has struggled to keep up with the scale of the task, with the commendable desire to improve standards resulting in little more than another layer of local government administration.
Legal challenges have also been brought — in Croydon and Enfield, among others — where councils have failed to justify borough-wide schemes with strong evidence. That may be why the stronger measures will only apply to parts of Tooting, at least for now.
In the past and in contrast, Wandsworth has long favoured a more market-led model, with a political culture that emphasised landlord autonomy and light-touch regulation.
That philosophy is now being rewritten under Labour, which gained control of the council in 2022 after more than four decades of Conservative rule. The shift is especially stark in more affluent areas of the borough, where housing conditions are generally better, and so the benefits significantly lower.
The risk: higher prices for little gain
A significant risk and impact may come if landlords pass on the new costs to renters. While the council argues that responsible landlords already meet the standards required, critics warn that higher compliance and compulsory fees could be used to justify rent increases in an already expensive market. Some landlords may even choose to sell up or leave the sector, tightening rental supply further.
Whether the new system delivers its promised benefits will depend largely on enforcement. Without sufficient staffing and oversight, licensing risks becoming an expensive paper exercise. But if properly implemented, it could mark a lasting change in how housing is managed and regulated in one of London’s most politically and economically diverse boroughs.
What’s clear is that the council is now moving in a very different direction—and for Wandsworth, that in itself is a major change.
