Havering
Verified local trades for Havering
London Heroes covers Havering 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 Havering
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England. Havering may also operate additional or selective licensing.
- Selective licensing
- In operation. Havering's selective licensing scheme ('Scheme 2') applies to privately rented homes let to a single family or one to two unrelated occupants, in seven of the borough's wards only: Beam Park, Harold Wood, Rainham and Wennington, Rush Green and Crowlands, Squirrels Heath, St Albans and St Edwards. Fee: Part A (application) £570 + Part B (licensing) £380 = £950 before discounts, with the same discount structure as the additional scheme. Applications could be made after 25 January 2026.Coverage: Beam Park, Harold Wood, Rainham and Wennington, Rush Green and Crowlands, Squirrels Heath, St Albans, St Edwards (7 of 20 wards)Designated: 18 March 2026 until 17 March 2031
- Additional HMO licensing
- In operation. Havering introduced a borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme ('Scheme 3') covering all wards in the London Borough of Havering. It catches smaller HMOs not covered by mandatory licensing — typically homes rented to three or four unrelated people sharing amenities such as cooking or washing facilities. Fee: Part A (application) £840 + Part B (licensing) £560 = £1,400 before discounts. Discounts: £100 off Part B for an accredited landlord; £75 off Part B for an EPC of C or above; £100 per dwelling where multiple properties are in the same building. Applications opened from 25 January 2026, with no discount for applying early.Coverage: All wards in the London Borough of HaveringDesignated: 18 March 2026 until 17 March 2031
Both discretionary schemes are new — they only came into force on 18 March 2026, so a large number of Havering landlords who have never needed a licence before now do. Fees are split into two parts: Part A on application, Part B on grant. Havering is an outer borough that historically had very little licensing, so awareness among small local landlords is likely to be low and the compliance risk correspondingly high. Mandatory HMO licensing (5+ occupants in 2+ households) applies as it does nationally.
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 HaveringCouncil’s licensing pages before applying or paying.
What Havering is built of — and what that means for repairs
Havering is the outer-east suburban borough: overwhelmingly interwar and post-war low-rise family housing — 1930s bay-fronted semis and short terraces around Romford, Hornchurch and Gidea Park, extensive post-war and 1950s-60s estate housing at Harold Hill and Rainham, and pockets of genuinely rural and semi-rural property towards Upminster, Cranham and North Ockendon. Recent change is concentrated in high-density new-build flats around Romford town centre and the Beam Park regeneration on the Rainham marshes edge. Victorian stock is comparatively scarce, and much of the borough is detached and semi-detached rather than flatted.
Common repair issues in Havering
- Interwar cavity-wall semis with degraded, bridged or missing cavity insulation and cold, damp-prone external walls
- Concrete-tiled and clay-tiled pitched roofs from the 1930s-50s reaching end of life, often with no or perished underfelt
- Post-war system-built and non-traditional estate housing at Harold Hill and Rainham with structural, insulation and thermal-bridging issues
- Ageing gas central heating, single-skin conservatories and unmodernised electrics in long-held family homes
- Extensions, garage conversions and loft conversions typical of suburban semis, with building regulations and party wall implications
- Surface-water and fluvial flood exposure on the Rainham and Beam Park marshland edge and along the Ingrebourne valley
- Shrinkable London clay subsoil causing seasonal subsidence and heave, particularly near mature trees
- Newly licensable single-let houses whose landlords have never had to meet licence conditions before — smoke alarms, gas and electrical certification, and management standards
Areas we cover in Havering
- Romford
- Hornchurch
- Upminster
- Rainham
- Harold Hill
- Harold Wood
- Gidea Park
- Elm Park
Nearby boroughs
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Services in Havering
Ordered for what’s common in Havering’s housing — every service is available to book here, day or night.
Browse all servicesStraight answers for Havering
How do I find a verified plumber or electrician in Havering?
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 Havering 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 Havering?
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 Havering?
Havering operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide until 17 March 2031 and selective licensing until 17 March 2031; the exact coverage of selective licensing is set out on our Havering page. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless. Checked against Havering 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 Havering?
Founding heroes get a live, public verification passport — identity, credentials and verified reviews on one page — plus payment-protected jobs at a straight 10%.