Ealing
Verified local trades for Ealing
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Landlord licensing in Ealing
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England. Ealing may also operate additional or selective licensing.
- Selective licensing
- In operation. Ealing operates selective licensing for single-household privately rented properties in designated wards, adopted from 1 April 2022 for an initial three wards and extended from 3 January 2023 to a much larger group. Ealing's own page notes the wards are defined by the pre-May 2022 ward boundaries, so landlords must use the council's postcode checker or map rather than assume current ward names apply. The Designation 1 statutory notice states verbatim: 'made on 20 December 2021 and shall come into force on 01 April 2022... shall cease to have effect on 31 March 2027.' The Designation 2 dates (7 September 2022 made, 3 January 2023 in force, 2 January 2028 ceasing) are corroborated by a third-party reproduction of the public notice and independent web search, not by a document hosted on ealing.gov.uk itself, so treat them as well-corroborated rather than fully primary-sourced. Fee: Part A £250 + Part B £500 = £750, plus a 10% multi-flat discount (selective licences only) alongside the £75 accredited-landlord and £50 EPC A-C discounts.Coverage: From 1 April 2022: East Acton, Southall Broadway, Southall Green. From 3 January 2023: Acton Central, Dormers Wells, Greenford Broadway, Greenford Green, Hanger Hill, Hobbayne, Lady Margaret, North Greenford, Northolt Mandeville, Northolt West End, and Perivale and South Acton. Wards are as they stood before the May 2022 boundary changes.Designated: Designation 1 made 20 December 2021, in force from 1 April 2022, ceasing 31 March 2027 (statutory notice). Designation 2 made 7 September 2022, in force from 3 January 2023, ceasing 2 January 2028 (well-corroborated but not council-first-party-sourced).
- Additional HMO licensing
- In operation. Ealing operates a borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme, adopted by the council from 1 April 2022. It covers HMOs occupied by 3 or 4 people forming two or more households sharing amenities - i.e. those falling below the mandatory HMO threshold. Ealing's page gives a helpful worked example: three friends sharing is three households and three individuals, and a couple plus a third person is two households and three individuals; both need an additional HMO licence, not a mandatory one. Ealing also separately operates section 257 licensing for freeholders of buildings converted into three or more self-contained flats without a Building Regulations completion certificate - an unusual scheme that most boroughs do not run and that catches a lot of older conversion freeholders by surprise. The statutory designation notice states verbatim: 'This designation is made on 21 December 2021 and shall come into force on 01 April 2022... shall cease to have effect on 31 March 2027.' Fees (the fee schedule currently linked from the council's live page; its PDF footer reads 'Fees 2024', so this may not reflect a 2026 uplift): additional HMO (3-4 occupants) Part A £300 + Part B £1,000 = £1,300; mandatory HMO up to 5 bedrooms Part A £600 + Part B £1,000 = £1,500, rising to £2,000 for 20+ bedrooms; section 257 HMO Part A £400 + Part B £700 = £1,100. Discounts: £75 for an accredited landlord, £50 for an EPC rating of A-C.Coverage: Borough-wide.Designated: Made 21 December 2021; in force from 1 April 2022; ceases to have effect 31 March 2027 — per the statutory designation notice.
There is a live consultation running right now that landlords should know about: Ealing's private rented properties page states a 'Consultation on additional house in multiple occupation (HMO) licensing' is running from 15 July 2026 to 24 September 2026. That timing is consistent with the council consulting on a successor to the current borough-wide additional scheme before it lapses. Landlords in Ealing should check the postcode checker rather than relying on ward names, because the selective designations use pre-2022 boundaries. Contact for property licensing is 020 8825 9512, with phone lines open 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm Monday to Friday. Separately, and relevant to anyone planning building work: Ealing's own building control page states 'We currently have severe backlogs with our service to customers who have reverted to using the council's building control' after the failure of a private-sector provider, and that it is hiring extra staff - so building control turnaround in Ealing should not be assumed to be quick.
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 EalingCouncil’s licensing pages before applying or paying.
What Ealing is built of — and what that means for repairs
Ealing is a long east-to-west borough with three distinct building eras. Acton, Hanwell, West Ealing and parts of central Ealing are Victorian and Edwardian terraces and villas, much of it converted into flats and shared houses. Moving west and north, Perivale, Greenford, Northolt and Southgate-facing suburbs are dominated by large interwar estates of semi-detached and short-terrace houses built between the wars along the arterial roads and Underground extensions, with generous gardens and cavity walls. Southall has a dense stock of Victorian and interwar terraces with a high rate of subdivision, rear extension and outbuilding conversion, and post-war council estates and recent large-scale new-build - Southall Gasworks and the Acton regeneration areas - add towers and apartment blocks to the mix.
Common repair issues in Ealing
- Solid-wall Victorian terraces in Acton, Hanwell and Southall show penetrating and rising damp, failed DPCs, and cold-bridging at solid party and flank walls
- Heavy subdivision into flats and HMOs brings fire separation, escape-route and sound-insulation deficiencies, and drainage and soil-stack runs that were never designed for the number of bathrooms now fitted
- Unauthorised rear extensions and outbuilding conversions - a known enforcement issue in the borough - often lack building regulations sign-off, which is precisely what triggers regularisation and section 257 licensing problems on sale
- Interwar semis in Greenford, Perivale and Northolt commonly need cavity wall tie replacement, roof covering renewal, and remediation of poorly installed retrofit cavity insulation causing damp bridging
- London Clay across much of the borough means subsidence and heave risk near mature trees, especially for interwar properties with shallow foundations
- Post-war estates and blocks bring communal heating, riser and roofing works, plus asbestos-containing materials in anything built before 2000
Areas we cover in Ealing
- Ealing Broadway
- Acton
- Southall
- Hanwell
- Greenford
- Northolt
- Perivale
- West Ealing
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Do landlords need a property licence in Ealing?
Ealing operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide until 31 March 2027 and selective licensing; the exact coverage of selective licensing is set out on our Ealing page. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless. Checked against Ealing 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.
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