London is 32 boroughs plus the City, and each borough sets its own licensing, so there is no single London rule. Mandatory HMO licensing is the England-wide floor: a house let to five or more people from two or more households, sharing facilities, needs a licence. On top of that, many boroughs run their own additional HMO or selective licensing, and the maps and fees differ street by street.
Newham was the first to license borough-wide and now runs mandatory, additional and selective schemes at once. Barking and Dagenham has borough-wide selective licensing from 6 April 2025 at £950 a property. Waltham Forest runs selective across most of the borough from May 2025 at £895. Croydon brings in selective licensing across 14 named wards from 25 September 2026 at £800. Westminster has a renewed borough-wide additional scheme live from 31 August 2026. The fee for a rented flat runs from about £750 to £950 depending on the borough. Check the council that issues the licence for your address, because two streets in different boroughs can sit under different rules.
London Fire Brigade will ask for the written assessment
London Fire Brigade is the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order across Greater London. It covers more than 800,000 premises and runs a risk-based inspection programme, so it cannot visit every one. The borough is the housing authority. An HMO licence can require a written assessment as a condition, but the Brigade can also ask for one on a shop, an office, a hotel or a block of flats that has never seen a housing officer. The person who appoints the assessor is still the responsible person.
Two heights that matter on a London block
Two thresholds decide the extra duties on a residential block. They are not the same. At more than 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require quarterly checks of the communal fire doors and yearly checks of the flat entrance doors. That has applied since 23 January 2023. At 18 metres or seven storeys, with at least two flats, the block is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022 and has to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator. Mansion blocks in Kensington, Westminster and Camden can pass either line. Measure from the lowest ground level to the top floor, because the height decides which duties apply.
The London conversion and the flat above the shop
A London assessment is rarely a plain building. A lot of the stock is Victorian and Georgian terraces cut into flats over the years, with one shared staircase and compartmentation added long after the house was built. Fire stopping between those flats is what the assessment usually finds missing. Purpose-built blocks and post-war towers are a different job, and many are still in the cladding remediation programme that followed Grenfell. Basement and lower-ground flats raise the question of a single escape. Flats and HMOs above shops on the high streets put a business and sleeping accommodation in one building. Say what the building is and which borough it is in when you ask for quotes.
If you rent from a social landlord, start with them.
The borough licence and the fire risk assessment are two duties
A borough licence is a housing licence from your council. The fire risk assessment is a duty under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. You still need the written fire risk assessment. If your borough runs no additional or selective scheme, or your street sits outside the designation, that licence does not apply. The fire safety duty stays if you run a business, let an HMO, or manage a building with common parts, in any of the 32 boroughs.
What a London report should actually name
A report that could have been written for any city is not suitable and sufficient here. It should name the borough, say whether the property needs that borough’s licence, and give the height so the 11 metre and 18 metre duties are settled. For a converted terrace it should name the shared staircase and the fire stopping between the flats. For a tower it should name the height, the fire doors and whether the block is registered with the Building Safety Regulator, not “common parts” as a heading with nothing under it.
Checking an assessor in London
There is no statutory register of fire risk assessors, in London or anywhere else, so the checking falls to whoever signs the invoice. A tall block or a converted HMO is complex work, so ask for qualifications, professional body membership, indemnity cover and a sample report for a comparable building before you appoint. The full list of questions, and what a competent answer sounds like, is on what a fire risk assessment costs.
What it costs in London
The building sets the price, not the postcode. A single flat above a shop in one borough is a morning. A mansion block over 11 metres, with its fixed fire door checks, or a higher-risk tower, is a bigger job that takes longer before anybody writes a word. National ranges, and what moves a quote inside them, are on what a fire risk assessment costs. Ask for a fixed price against a written description of the property rather than an hourly rate.
Essex, Kent and Surrey border London and each has its own page: Essex, Kent and Surrey.
Licensing across London’s boroughs
How do I know if my property needs a borough licence?
Check the borough that covers the address. Some run borough-wide selective or additional schemes, some license only named wards, and some run mandatory HMO licensing only. The fee runs from about £750 to £950. The council page for your borough is the test.
Does a borough licence replace the fire risk assessment?
No. London Fire Brigade will still ask for the written assessment.
My block is over 11 metres. What changes?
The communal fire doors need a check every three months and the flat entrance doors every year. At 18 metres or seven storeys the block also has to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator. Measure from the lowest ground level to the top floor.
Getting a quote from an assessor covering London
Describe the premises and the borough, and we will pass it to assessors covering that postcode. Say whether it is an HMO, a mansion block, a shop, or a building over 11 metres.
Brighton and Hove is the nearest south coast city on this site: fire risk assessments in Brighton and Hove.
Not in London? See all the areas we cover.