Is my home licensed?
Most shared houses (HMOs) need a licence, and in many areas every privately rented home does. Enter your postcode to see which licensing schemes cover your council and, where the council publishes its register as a file we can read, whether a licence for your address is on it. Nothing you enter is stored.
SW20 8LA is in Merton (Wimbledon Town & Dundonald ward)
Licensing schemes
- Mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere in England: a house or flat shared by 5 or more people from 2 or more households needs a licence.
- Additional HMO licensing covers part of Merton but not this postcode, according to the Mayor of London's licence-area map, 24 Sep 2023 to 23 Sep 2028. Smaller HMOs (for example 3 or 4 sharers) need a licence here too.
- Selective licensing covers part of Merton but not this postcode, according to the Mayor of London's licence-area map, 24 Sep 2023 to 23 Sep 2028. Every privately rented home in the area needs a licence, shared or not.
Scheme details were checked on 17 Oct 2026 from the council's own pages; whether a part-borough scheme covers this postcode comes from the Greater London Authority's licence-area map, the data behind the Mayor of London's checker. Schemes start, end and get renewed; the council's page is the current word.
The council's register
We don't have Merton's register. Many councils publish a search page or a list; the council's private housing team can confirm whether an address is licensed.
This is public data about schemes and registers, not a finding about any home. Whether a licence was needed, and whether one was held, is for the council and, in a dispute, the tribunal.
Next
- What the tribunal ordered landlords of unlicensed homes to repay near SW20 8LA: tenants of homes let without a required licence can apply for a rent repayment order.
- What the rent tribunal decided on rent increases near SW20 8LA.
- Email me when a new decision is published near SW20 8LA.
- Shelter on HMO licensing and GOV.UK on rent repayment orders.
Which councils we can check
Register lookups work for councils that publish their register as a file: Barnet (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Bexley (shared houses (HMOs) and selective licences; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Birmingham (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Brighton and Hove (shared houses (HMOs) and selective licences; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Camden (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Hillingdon (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Hounslow (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Kensington and Chelsea (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Kingston upon Thames (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Lambeth (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Leicester (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Lewisham (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Manchester (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Nottingham (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Portsmouth (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Sheffield (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Sutton (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Tower Hamlets (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Waltham Forest (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Warwick (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026); Woking (shared houses (HMOs) only; copy of 17 Oct 2026). The copy date is when we last downloaded the council's file; a few files are a council's reply to an earlier Freedom of Information request, so they are as old as that reply. For other councils the page shows the schemes and links to the council's own register search where there is one. How this works and its limits.