Key Points

• Croydon Council delayed the start of its borough-wide additional licensing scheme and 14-ward selective licensing scheme from 1 September 2026 to 25 September 2026.
• Landlords and managing agents cannot submit licence applications until 25 September 2026, and the council warned against attempting to apply early.
• Croydon Council’s Regeneration Lead and the Statutory Deputy Mayor & Cabinet Member for Homes decided to push back the start date on 9 July 2026 due to readiness concerns.
• The Housing Act 2004 allows local authorities to revoke a licensing scheme designation, but it does not explicitly state that councils can change a start date after making a designation.
• The council plans to keep the original end date of 31 August 2031, running both schemes through that date.
• Maximum civil financial penalties for licensing breaches recently increased to £40,000 per offence, while Rent Repayment Orders can cover up to two years of rent.

Croydon (South London News) September 1, 2026 – Croydon Council has unexpectedly postponed the launch of its new borough-wide additional licensing scheme and selective licensing scheme just as they were set to come into force, leaving private landlords and letting agents unable to submit property licence applications until later this month.

The local authority had originally designated both licensing frameworks on 25 March 2026. Under the initial designation, a borough-wide additional licensing scheme—targeting smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)—and a selective licensing scheme—covering fourteen specific council wards—were scheduled to start simultaneously on 1 September 2026 for a five-year term.

However, by July 2026, internal concerns surfaced within the local authority regarding its operational readiness to execute and administer the schemes on time. Consequently, council officers examined available administrative options to defer the implementation timeline.

As reported by London Property Licensing, the formal decision to alter the implementation timeline was made on 9 July 2026 by Croydon Council’s Regeneration Lead, acting in direct consultation with the Statutory Deputy Mayor & Cabinet Member for Homes. The executive decision rescheduled the official start date for both licensing regimes from 1 September 2026 to 25 September 2026. Industry monitoring platform London Property Licensing confirmed it recently learned of the internal council decision.

Following the formal adjustment, Croydon Council updated its official portal to confirm that property licence applications will not be accepted until 25 September 2026. The council has issued explicit guidance warning property owners and managing agents against attempting to lodge online applications prior to that revised date. A short formal notice of the decision to delay has since been published via public council channels.

As a direct consequence of the delay, local landlords remain unable to submit mandatory licence applications prior to the revised date, despite the regulatory frameworks having originally been scheduled to commence on 1 September 2026.

What Are the Legal Questions Surrounding Scheme Variation?

The legal mechanism behind Croydon Council’s decision to modify the commencement dates has raised technical questions among property law specialists and housing policy analysts. Whether a local housing authority holds the statutory power to unilaterally alter the commencement date of a property licensing designation after it has been formally made is a point of law that can ultimately only be determined by a court or property tribunal.

The core legal difficulty stems from primary legislation. The Housing Act 2004 contains explicit provisions allowing local authorities to revoke an existing licensing scheme designation, but it lacks any explicit statutory framework granting power to vary or amend the start date of a designation once it has been formally executed.

According to reporting by London Property Licensing, Croydon Council’s intention is to alter the operational start date of both property schemes without modifying their original statutory expiry date. Consequently, the additional and selective licensing schemes are slated to run from 25 September 2026 through to 31 August 2031. London Property Licensing has formally contacted Croydon Council seeking clarification regarding the specific administrative reasons for the operational delay, as well as the exact legal basis relied upon to vary the commencement date of the designations.

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How Have Property Industry Leaders Responded to the Deferral?

Industry stakeholders have voiced strong concerns regarding the operational confusion created by last-minute timeline changes.

As reported by London Property Licensing, Richard Tacagni, Managing Director of London Property Licensing, stated that:

“The situation in Croydon highlights the risk of implementing a licensing scheme before all the building blocks are in place. It risks causing confusion and uncertainty.

“To remain compliant, landlords and managing agents must submit licence applications by the date the licensing scheme starts. For this reason, I recommend all councils open the application process three months earlier. In this case, landlords are unable to apply before the licensing schemes start.

“With civil financial penalties recently increased up to £40,000 and Rent Repayment Orders covering up to two years rent, it is vital that councils provide clear, simple and timely communication to support regulatory compliance.”

Background of Landlord Licensing Developments in Croydon

Property licensing in the London Borough of Croydon has a complex history dating back over a decade. Croydon was one of the earliest London local authorities to introduce a large-scale, borough-wide selective licensing scheme under the Housing Act 2004, which ran from 2015 until its expiration in 2020. That initial scheme required thousands of private landlords across the borough to hold individual property licences, aiming to tackle substandard housing conditions, antisocial behaviour, and rogue landlord practices in the private rented sector.

Following the expiry of the original 2015–2020 scheme, Croydon Council sought to reintroduce extensive licensing across the borough. However, local authority property licensing frameworks face rigorous statutory criteria under national legislation. While mandatory HMO licensing applies nationally to properties occupied by five or more un-related people forming two or more households, non-mandatory schemes—specifically additional HMO licensing and selective licensing—require local designation and, in the case of large selective schemes, approval from the Secretary of State.

On 25 March 2026, Croydon Council successfully designated two new regulatory frameworks:

1. Additional HMO Licensing: A borough-wide scheme covering smaller, privately rented houses in multiple occupation (typically homes let to 3 or 4 tenants forming more than one household).
2. Selective Licensing: A targeted scheme covering all privately rented residential properties across 14 designated council wards, regardless of occupant count.

The 14 designated wards selected for selective licensing include Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Bensham Manor, Broad Green, Fairfield, Norbury & Pollards Hill, Norbury Park, Selhurst, South Croydon, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Waddon, West Thornton, and Woodside.

In parallel with local administrative changes, national enforcement standards have tightened dramatically. Under provisions linked to broader housing legislative reforms, the maximum civil financial penalty that local authorities can impose for property licensing breaches without prosecution was raised from £30,000 to £40,000 per offence. Simultaneously, the maximum period for Rent Repayment Orders (RROs)—which allow tenants or local authorities to reclaim rent paid during periods of unlicensed letting—was extended from 12 months to up to 24 months.

Prediction: How This Development Can Affect Landlords, Agents, and Tenants

The postponement of Croydon Council’s additional and selective licensing schemes to 25 September 2026 will create immediate operational, legal, and financial impacts across the local housing market, specifically affecting private landlords, letting agents, and residential tenants.

1. Landlords and Property Owners

• Compressed Compliance Window: Because the council’s IT application portal will not accept submissions prior to 25 September 2026, landlords face a zero-day lead time. Rather than submitting applications weeks in advance to ensure smooth compliance, thousands of property owners will be forced to submit applications simultaneously on or after launch day, creating a severe bottleneck.
• Heightened Financial Risk: Operating an unlicensed property once a scheme is active constitutes an offence under the Housing Act 2004. With civil penalties capped at £40,000 and Rent Repayment Orders covering up to 24 months of rent, landlords face significant financial exposure if administrative delays on the council’s portal prevent timely processing. Landlords will need to retain dated proof of attempting to apply on 25 September 2026 to protect themselves against potential enforcement action.
• Potential Legal Challenges: If the variation of the commencement date without scheme revocation is challenged in court by property owner groups, landlords could face ongoing legal uncertainty regarding whether the scheme’s enforcement dates are legally binding under the Housing Act 2004.

2. Managing and Letting Agents

• Operational Gridlock: Estate agents and property management firms handling portfolios in Croydon must rapidly prepare documentation—including current Gas Safety certificates, Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs), and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)—for hundreds of properties at once. The inability to stagger submissions prior to 25 September means agency compliance teams will experience severe administrative pressure during late September.
• Professional Liability: Letting agents can be fined in their own right for managing unlicensed properties. Agents will likely mandate that landlords sign formal indemnities or provide immediate authorization to submit applications the moment the online portal opens.

3. Private Tenants

• Delayed Quality Oversight: The primary goal of selective and additional licensing is to enforce housing quality standards and eliminate hazards. A delay in implementation defers formal council inspections and standard checks, meaning tenants in substandard accommodation may wait longer for local authority intervention.
• Confusion Over Rights: Tenants seeking to understand their landlord’s compliance status or evaluate potential Rent Repayment Order claims may experience confusion during the interim period between 1 September and 25 September 2026, as official scheme dates transition.