Islington
Verified local trades for Islington
London Heroes covers Islington around the clock. Every professional is identity-checked by a person before they can take work, every credential they add is reviewed by our team against its evidence, with any expiry date checked daily, and every payment is held securely until you confirm the work is done.
If you smell gas, or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds: don't smoke, light a flame or touch light switches, open the doors and windows, turn the gas off at the meter if you can reach it safely and it isn't in a cellar or basement, get everyone out, and call the National Gas Emergency Service free on 0800 111 999 before anything else — before calling us.
Landlord licensing in Islington
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England. Islington may also operate additional or selective licensing.
- Selective licensing
- In operation. Selective licensing applies to all privately rented accommodation occupied by one or two people (whatever their relationship) or by a single family/household, in the Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington wards. Islington Council's news release of 24 October 2025 announced approval of an expansion to seven further wards — Barnsbury, Caledonian, Tufnell Park, Mildmay, Highbury, Junction and Laycock — but no start date for that expansion was given on the council pages checked, and the council's licensing page still lists only the three original wards.Coverage: In force: Finsbury Park, Hillrise, Tollington. Approved for expansion (start date not confirmed on council pages): Barnsbury, Caledonian, Tufnell Park, Mildmay, Highbury, Junction, Laycock.Designated: Current scheme running since May 2024 (council page). Expansion approved 23 October 2025; start date not published on the pages checked.
- Additional HMO licensing
- In operation. Borough-wide additional HMO licensing. The council's property licensing page (fetched 21 July 2026) states the additional scheme covers properties with three or four unrelated occupants sharing facilities, certain converted buildings (s257 HMOs), and some flats in purpose-built blocks. The council states the scheme has run borough-wide since 1 February 2021. The renewed designation's statutory notice text (reproduced at londonlandlords.org.uk, not itself hosted on islington.gov.uk, but consistent with the council's own October 2025 news release timeline) states verbatim: 'This designation is made on 30th October 2025 and shall come into force at 12.00am on 1st February 2026... shall cease to have effect at 11.59pm on 31st January 2031.'Coverage: Borough-wide (all wards)Designated: Made 30 October 2025; in force from 1 February 2026; ceasing 31 January 2031 — per a third-party reproduction of the statutory notice, well-corroborated by the council's own October 2025 news release but not itself found hosted on islington.gov.uk.
Islington runs three schemes in parallel (mandatory, borough-wide additional, and area-based selective) and has a dedicated application portal at propertylicensing.islington.gov.uk. Landlords in the seven expansion wards should watch for a designation notice — the council has approved the expansion but had not published a start date on the pages checked on 21 July 2026. Fees were not confirmed from a current council page and are therefore not stated here. In October 2025 the council announced that the selective licensing scheme would be extended to 2031 and widened to seven further wards. When we checked the council's licensing pages on 21 July 2026, only Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington were listed as designated, and no start date for the seven-ward expansion had been published. Confirm with the council before relying on this.
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 Islington Council’s licensing pages before applying or paying.
A property somewhere else in London? Check any London address with the free Property Licence Checker — all 33 boroughs on one page, each dated, with the whole dataset free to download.
Heating and gas safety in Islington
If you smell gas, or a carbon monoxide alarm sounds: don't smoke, light a flame or touch light switches, open the doors and windows, turn the gas off at the meter if you can reach it safely and it isn't in a cellar or basement, get everyone out, and call the National Gas Emergency Service free on 0800 111 999 before anything else — before calling us.
Islington operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide and selective licensing — the exact coverage of selective licensing is set out in the licensing panel above — checked against the council’s own pages on 21 July 2026. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless.
If you let a property with gas appliances installed, the landlord gas safety duties apply whether or not it needs a property licence.
Source — checked
Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR, often called 'CP12' in the industry, though that is not the certificate's legal name)
Annual — within 12 months of appliance/flue installation and at intervals of not more than 12 months thereafter.
Source — checked
Gas safety duties are set nationally and do not vary between London boroughs — only the licensing position above does.
Check an engineer on the Gas Safe Register: gassaferegister.co.uk
Source — checked
Boiler repair · Boiler service · Landlord gas safety certificate (CP12)
What Islington is built of — and what that means for repairs
Islington is one of the most densely built inner-London boroughs, dominated by Georgian and Victorian terraces — much of it in conservation areas — very large numbers of which have been subdivided into flats. Alongside this sit substantial post-war council estates and a growing amount of new-build apartment development around King's Cross, Old Street and the City fringe. Owner-occupation is comparatively low and the private rented and social rented sectors are both large.
Common repair issues in Islington
- Rising and penetrating damp in solid-wall Georgian/Victorian terraces with no cavity, often worsened by raised external ground levels and blocked or bridged sub-floor ventilation
- Flat-conversion problems: inadequate sound insulation, non-compliant means of escape and fire separation between flats, and shared soil/waste stacks
- Conservation-area and listed-building constraints limiting window replacement, external insulation and roof alterations, so retrofit has to be done internally
- Basement and lower-ground-floor flats prone to water ingress and poor ventilation, and basement excavation works affecting neighbouring terraces
- Communal heating and ageing risers in post-war estates, plus fire-safety remediation obligations in blocks
- Old lead and iron water pipework and undersized/overloaded electrical installations in unmodernised conversions
Areas we cover in Islington
- Angel
- Highbury
- Archway
- Finsbury Park
- Clerkenwell
- Canonbury
- Barnsbury
- Tufnell Park
- Holloway
Nearby boroughs
London Heroes covers every neighbouring borough the same way — verified trades, day or night.
Letting out a property in more than one? Check any London address — all 33 boroughs in one place, each dated.
Verified Heroes
Every Hero's identity is checked by our team before they can take work. Each credential a Hero adds is reviewed too, and any expiry date it carries is checked every day.
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See a Hero's verified identity, each credential our team has verified, and any expiry date each one carries.
Secure payments
Payments are handled through the platform with a full record of every transaction. No cash-in-hand ambiguity.
Local & accountable
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Services in Islington
Ordered for what’s common in Islington’s housing — every service is available to book here, day or night.
Browse all servicesStraight answers for Islington
How do I find a verified plumber or electrician in Islington?
Describe the job at londonheroes.co.uk/request. Every professional on London Heroes has passed an identity check, decided by a person, before they can take work. The Hero Agreement requires the credentials their work needs (Gas Safe for gas work, competent-person scheme membership for electrical work, public liability insurance); our team reviews each one a professional adds, and once verified it shows on their Hero Passport with any expiry date it carries, which is checked daily. London Heroes covers Islington around the clock.
How does payment protection work on London Heroes?
You pay when you book, and the money is held securely. It is released to the tradesperson when you confirm the work is complete, or after a dispute you raise is resolved in their favour. If something goes wrong before you confirm, raising a dispute freezes the money automatically while our team investigates; outcomes can include a refund to your original payment method. The platform fee is a transparent 10%, paid by the professional.
Are the tradespeople on London Heroes vetted?
Yes, and the decision is made by a person, not an algorithm. Identity verification includes photographic ID, a selfie holding the document, and business registration for limited companies, and no one can take work until it is approved. Every credential a professional adds is uploaded with its evidence and reviewed by our team. A credential whose recorded expiry date has passed 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 Islington?
Nothing extra: you pay the price shown for the job 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 Islington?
Islington operates additional HMO licensing borough-wide and selective licensing; the exact coverage of selective licensing is set out on our Islington page. Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England regardless. Checked against Islington 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 Islington?
Founding heroes get a live, public verification passport — identity, credentials and verified reviews on one page — plus payment-protected jobs at a straight 10%.