Harrow
Verified local trades for Harrow
London Heroes covers Harrow 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 Harrow
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England. Harrow may also operate additional or selective licensing.
- Selective licensing
- In operation. Selective licensing applies to privately rented homes occupied by one or two persons or one family household in designated wards. The council has designated an expanded set of six wards, each with its own start date and each running five years from its own start: Edgware and Roxeth from 2 May 2026; Greenhill and Marlborough from 6 July 2026; Wealdstone North and Wealdstone South from 1 September 2026. It applies to 'all privately rented houses within the boundaries of each designated ward'. Exemptions include licensable HMOs, registered social landlord properties, and student accommodation managed by recognised educational institutions. Fee: administration £686 + management and enforcement £100 = £786, the same for new applications and renewals. Note the council's rule that a property is only ever subject to one residential licensing scheme — an HMO-licensed property does not also need a selective licence.Coverage: Edgware, Roxeth (live from 2 May 2026); Greenhill, Marlborough (live from 6 July 2026); Wealdstone North, Wealdstone South (from 1 September 2026)Designated: Staggered designations across 2026, each running five years from its own commencement date. As at 21 July 2026 four of the six wards are live and the two Wealdstone wards are not yet in force.
- Additional HMO licensing
- In operation. Harrow operates a borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme covering 'HMOs occupied by three or more people in two or more households', and also converted buildings containing at least three self-contained privately rented flats that do not meet 1991 Building Regulations standards (section 257 HMOs). The scheme was designated 6 May 2021 and commenced 6 August 2021 following the three-month statutory notice period. HMO licence fees stated by the council: new application £1,400 administration + £500 inspection = £1,900; renewal £843.80 + £500 = £1,343.80; renewal with material change charged as a new application; section 257 self-contained units are much lower, roughly £278 (renewal) to £393 (new).Coverage: Borough-wideDesignated: Commenced 6 August 2021; the current designation expires 5 August 2026. A consultation on renewing it for a further five years ran 19 December 2025 to 27 February 2026 and closed with 136 responses; as at the council's own latest update the final proposals were still to be presented to Cabinet for a decision. Checked again on 21 July 2026: the published agenda pack for the Cabinet meeting of 9 July 2026 — the last Cabinet before the designation expires — carries no additional-licensing item, and no renewal decision has been published. For context on timing, Harrow's own Cabinet minutes for the 2021 designation record that it was made on 6 May 2021 and came into force on 6 August 2021 'after the statutory 3-month period'. Landlords should confirm the position with the council rather than assume the scheme continues past 5 August 2026.
The single most commercially important Harrow fact for 2026: an Article 4 Direction means that from 11 June 2026 planning permission is needed for a new HMO licence for properties with up to six occupants, and for any HMO exceeding six people. Licence renewals for smaller HMOs (up to six people) do not require planning permission. That decouples 'I can get a licence' from 'I can lawfully use it as an HMO' and catches out landlords converting family houses. Contact: private.sector.housing@harrow.gov.uk. Harrow's selective licensing is expanding rather than contracting — landlords in Wealdstone should be preparing now for the 1 September 2026 start.
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 HarrowCouncil’s licensing pages before applying or paying.
What Harrow is built of — and what that means for repairs
Harrow is overwhelmingly an interwar suburban borough — the classic Metro-land product of the 1920s and 1930s: bay-fronted semi-detached and short-terrace houses with hipped tiled roofs, rendered or pebbledashed elevations, and generous gardens, built out along the Metropolitan line through Rayners Lane, Kenton and Harrow Weald. Around this sit older village cores at Pinner and Harrow on the Hill, post-war and 1960s-70s estates and blocks around Wealdstone and central Harrow, and a steady flow of recent flatted development near Harrow-on-the-Hill station. Genuine Victorian terrace stock is a small minority here compared with inner London.
Common repair issues in Harrow
- Interwar cavity walls with the cavity either unfilled or filled decades ago with degraded or bridged insulation, causing cold spots and localised damp
- Original 1930s hipped tiled roofs at or past end of life: slipped tiles, failed or absent underfelt, and inadequate loft insulation
- Pebbledash and render cracking or blowing on rendered semis, letting water into the wall behind
- Single-glazed or early-double-glazed metal and timber windows in unmodernised semis
- Rear and side extensions and loft conversions on semis — a dominant local trade — with party wall and building regulations implications
- House-to-HMO conversions creating fire-separation, escape and amenity-standard shortfalls, now also a planning issue under the borough's Article 4 direction
- Dated electrical installations and ageing gas boilers in owner-occupied houses that have not changed hands in decades
- Subsidence risk on shrinkable clay subsoil in dry summers, aggravated by mature garden trees
Areas we cover in Harrow
- Harrow on the Hill
- Wealdstone
- Pinner
- Stanmore
- Edgware
- Rayners Lane
- Harrow Weald
- South Harrow
Nearby boroughs
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Services in Harrow
Ordered for what’s common in Harrow’s housing — every service is available to book here, day or night.
Browse all servicesStraight answers for Harrow
How do I find a verified plumber or electrician in Harrow?
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 Harrow 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 Harrow?
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 Harrow?
Harrow operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide until 5 August 2026 and selective licensing; the exact coverage of selective licensing is set out on our Harrow page. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless. Checked against Harrow 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 Harrow?
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