Brent
Verified local trades for Brent
London Heroes covers Brent around the clock. Every professional is identity-checked by a human, has their credentials verified against evidence and watched for expiry, and every payment is held securely until you confirm the work is done.
Landlord licensing in Brent
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England. Brent may also operate additional or selective licensing.
- Selective licensing
- In operation. Selective licensing applies to properties 'occupied by no more than 2 people, or 1 family households'. It is delivered through two designations. Designation 1 covers 'the three wards of Harlesden & Kensal Green, Dollis Hill and Willesden Green', came into force 1 August 2023 and lasts five years. Designation 2 covers 'all other 18 wards in Brent, except for the Wembley Park ward', came into force 1 April 2024 and lasts five years. Wembley Park ward is excluded from both. Current selective fees: Part 1 £640, Part 2 £300.Coverage: 21 of Brent's 22 wards. Wembley Park ward is the sole exclusion.Designated: Designation 1: from 1 August 2023 for five years. Designation 2: from 1 April 2024 for five years.
- Additional HMO licensing
- In operation. A NEW additional HMO licensing scheme is in force. The statutory notice of designation states the designation was made 13 October 2025, came into force 2 February 2026 and ceases to have effect 2 February 2031, and 'shall apply to the whole area of the district of the London Borough of Brent'. It applies to privately rented properties occupied by three or four people from two or more households, and also captures HMOs not covered by mandatory licensing including section 257 HMOs (unless exempt) and HMOs in purpose-built blocks of three or more self-contained flats. Fees from 2 February 2026: Part 1 £1,040 (plus £25 per habitable room over 5) and Part 2 £500 on grant. Applications opened 17 November 2025; applications received before 2 February 2026 were processed at the older rates (new £840 / renewal £740).Coverage: Borough-wide.Designated: In force 2 February 2026; ceases to have effect 2 February 2031.
Brent is now one of the most comprehensively licensed boroughs in London: mandatory HMO, borough-wide additional HMO (new from 2 February 2026), and selective licensing across 21 of 22 wards. In practice almost every private let in Brent needs a licence of some kind, with Wembley Park the one meaningful gap — and that gap only helps single-household lets, since the new additional HMO scheme covers Wembley Park too. Fees rose materially on 2 February 2026 (mandatory/additional Part 1 from £840 to £1,040 and Part 2 from £300 to £500), so older fee figures circulating online are out of date. Both mandatory and selective fees are two-part.
Checked against the council’s own pages on 21 July 2026. Licensing schemes are five-year designations that expire and get redesignated on their own timetables — always confirm on BrentCouncil’s licensing pages before applying or paying.
What Brent is built of — and what that means for repairs
Brent divides sharply. The south and east — Kilburn, Willesden, Harlesden, Kensal Rise, Queen's Park and Mapesbury — is dense late-Victorian and Edwardian terraced and villa housing built for late-nineteenth-century working London, on tight streets with modest rear gardens, and very heavily subdivided into flats and HMOs. The centre and north — Wembley, Kingsbury, Kenton, Preston and Queensbury — is interwar semi-detached suburbia and forms the bulk of the family-let market. Post-war estates and tower blocks appear around Church End, Stonebridge and South Kilburn, and Wembley Park has been substantially rebuilt as large-scale new-build apartment towers.
Common repair issues in Brent
- Solid-wall Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Kilburn, Willesden and Harlesden with rising and penetrating damp, decayed lime render and blocked or bridged sub-floor ventilation
- Poorly executed historic flat conversions where sound insulation, fire compartmentation and means of escape do not meet current HMO licence conditions
- Original slate roofs, parapet gutters and lead flashings at end of life on period terraces
- Interwar semis in Wembley and Kingsbury needing cavity and loft insulation upgrades and window replacement
- Overcrowding-driven wear and condensation in high-occupancy HMOs, now caught by the borough-wide additional licensing scheme
- Communal heating, riser and plant complexity in post-war estates and Wembley Park new-build towers, where individual owners cannot alter services
Areas we cover in Brent
- Wembley
- Willesden Green
- Harlesden
- Kilburn
- Kensal Rise
- Queen's Park
- Kingsbury
- Neasden
Nearby boroughs
London Heroes covers every neighbouring borough the same way — verified trades, day or night.
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Services in Brent
Ordered for what’s common in Brent’s housing — every service is available to book here, day or night.
Browse all servicesStraight answers for Brent
How do I find a verified plumber or electrician in Brent?
Describe the job at londonheroes.co.uk/request. Every professional on London Heroes has passed a human-reviewed identity check, holds verified credentials (Gas Safe for gas work, competent-person scheme membership for electrical work, public liability insurance) displayed live on their public Hero Passport, and is monitored daily for credential expiry. London Heroes covers Brent around the clock.
How does payment protection work on London Heroes?
You pay when you book, but the money is held securely and only released to the tradesperson when you confirm the work is complete. If something goes wrong before you confirm, raising a dispute freezes the money automatically while a named member of the team investigates — outcomes include partial or full refund. The platform fee is a transparent 10%, paid by the professional.
Are the tradespeople on London Heroes vetted?
Yes — and by a human, not an algorithm. Verification includes photographic ID, a selfie holding the document, business registration for limited companies, and evidence for every declared credential. A lapsed credential shows as expired on the professional's public Passport rather than being hidden, and reviews can only be written by clients of real, paid jobs.
What does it cost to use London Heroes in Brent?
Nothing extra: you pay the professional's quoted price and no booking fees on top. The platform's 10% commission is paid by the professional out of the job price. Cancel before work starts and you receive a full refund.
Do landlords need a property licence in Brent?
Brent operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide until 2 February 2031 and selective licensing in 21 of Brent's 22 wards. Wembley Park ward is the sole exclusion. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless. Checked against Brent Council’s own pages on 21 July 2026 — confirm on the council’s website before applying, as designations expire and are renewed on their own timetables.
A trade professional in Brent?
Founding heroes get a live, public verification passport — identity, credentials and verified reviews on one page — plus payment-protected jobs at a straight 10%.