Camden
Verified local trades for Camden
London Heroes covers Camden 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 Camden
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England. Camden may also operate additional or selective licensing.
- Selective licensing
- Not in operation. Camden does not operate a selective licensing scheme. The council's HMO pages state only that 'Landlords must hold either a mandatory or additional licence if they are operating an HMO in Camden' — there is no selective scheme covering ordinary single-household private lets. Camden sought initial views on a possible future selective scheme during a 2020 consultation, but none has been designated.
- Additional HMO licensing
- In operation. A new borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme is in force. The statutory notice states the designation 'was made on 02 July 2025 and shall come into force on 08 December 2025' and 'shall cease to have effect on 08 December 2030 or earlier if the Council revokes the scheme under section 60 of the Act', and that it 'shall apply to the whole area of the district of the London Borough of Camden'. It applies to all HMOs under s.254 Housing Act 2004 occupied by three or more persons comprising two or more households, and to s.257 HMOs where less than half of the flats are owner-occupied. Critically, Camden uses additional licensing to close the purpose-built-block gap: the council states the only exemption from mandatory licensing is for 'HMOs which are flats located in purpose built blocks containing 3 or more flats. However, all such flats in Camden must still be licensed under our Additional Licensing scheme.' This scheme replaces the previous additional scheme which ran from December 2020 for five years.Coverage: Borough-wide.Designated: In force 8 December 2025; ceases to have effect 8 December 2030.
Camden's practical rule is unusually wide for an HMO-only borough: any property with three or more occupiers forming two or more households sharing amenities needs a licence, and the council explicitly states that 'The tenancy agreement is not relevant in determining if a house is an HMO, nor is the number of storeys.' Because the purpose-built-flat exemption from mandatory licensing is deliberately swept back in by additional licensing, a shared flat in a mansion block or an ordinary purpose-built block IS licensable in Camden where it might not be elsewhere. Landlords whose licence was issued under the December 2020 scheme need a new licence under the 2025-30 designation. Camden will return applications for properties with zero tenants — a property is not an HMO until occupied — so apply as soon as it is let. Penalties: unlimited fine on conviction, or a financial penalty up to £30,000, plus possible rent repayment of up to 12 months.
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 CamdenCouncil’s licensing pages before applying or paying.
What Camden is built of — and what that means for repairs
Camden's stock is unusually polarised for a single borough. At one end sit Georgian townhouses and terraces in Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia and Primrose Hill and large Victorian villas and period houses in Hampstead and Highgate, much of it listed and sitting inside an exceptionally extensive network of conservation areas with active Article 4 directions. Between those are dense Victorian terraces through Kentish Town, Tufnell Park, Camden Town and Gospel Oak, overwhelmingly subdivided into flats. At the other end are large post-war council estates — including the well-known Camden-built schemes around Gospel Oak, Somers Town and Chalk Farm — so a substantial share of the borough's homes are estate flats or ex-council leasehold, sometimes on the same street as Georgian stock.
Common repair issues in Camden
- Solid-wall Georgian and Victorian construction with rising and penetrating damp, decayed lime plaster and render, and damage caused by earlier cement-based repairs that trap moisture
- Listed building consent and conservation-area constraints on windows, roofs, front elevations and rooflights, which rule out standard uPVC and off-the-shelf solutions
- Basement and lower-ground-floor damp and flooding in period terraces, plus a strict planning regime around basement excavation
- Poorly compartmented historic flat conversions failing current HMO fire-safety, sound-insulation and means-of-escape standards — now a licensing issue borough-wide
- Post-war estate blocks with communal or district heating, shared risers and concrete repair needs, where individual leaseholders cannot alter services independently
- Original single-glazed timber sashes and slate roofs with parapet gutters and lead flashings needing specialist rather than general repair
- Mature street trees on London Clay contributing to subsidence in period terraces
Areas we cover in Camden
- Camden Town
- Hampstead
- Highgate
- Kentish Town
- Bloomsbury
- Belsize Park
- Primrose Hill
- Somers Town
- Gospel Oak
- Fitzrovia
Nearby boroughs
London Heroes covers every neighbouring borough the same way — verified trades, day or night.
Verified Heroes
Every Hero's identity, insurance and trade credentials are checked before they can take work — and expiry-tracked afterwards.
Live Hero Passport
See exactly which checks a Hero has passed, when we last checked, and when each credential expires.
Secure payments
Payments are handled through the platform with a full record of every transaction. No cash-in-hand ambiguity.
Local & accountable
A registered London company with a real complaints process — not an anonymous listings site.
Services in Camden
Ordered for what’s common in Camden’s housing — every service is available to book here, day or night.
Browse all servicesStraight answers for Camden
How do I find a verified plumber or electrician in Camden?
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 Camden 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 Camden?
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 Camden?
Camden operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide until 8 December 2030. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless. Checked against Camden 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 Camden?
Founding heroes get a live, public verification passport — identity, credentials and verified reviews on one page — plus payment-protected jobs at a straight 10%.