Brent vs Ealing — Landlord Licensing Compared

Side-by-side comparison of selective and additional HMO licensing in Brent and Ealing. Reference data from each council's own pages and GOV.UK.

West-London neighbours with overlapping HMO markets.

Brent (Greater London)

• Selective licensing: Designated areas only. Selective licensing designation in force across multiple Brent wards (Designation 1/2023 and Phase 2).
• Additional HMO licensing: City-wide scheme in force. Brent states that a new Additional Licence scheme comes into force on 2 February 2026. It will be needed for all privately rented properties occupied by three or four people making up two or more households, and also applies to HMOs outside the mandatory scheme — certain buildings converted into self-contained flats that did not and still do not comply with the relevant Building Regulations where less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied, and HMOs in certain purpose-built blocks of flats. Brent separately operates selective licensing designations.
• Council licensing page: https://www.brent.gov.uk/housing/landlords/property-licensing
• Council HMO page: https://www.brent.gov.uk/housing/landlords/property-licensing
• Full reference page: https://letsentry.co.uk/council/brent

Ealing (Greater London)

• Selective licensing: Designated areas only. Selective licensing scheme covers designated areas of Ealing (single household or self-contained properties in the scheme map).
• Additional HMO licensing: Status not yet verified. Not yet independently verified — check the council page.
• Council licensing page: https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201086/housing/3306/private_rented_properties/8
• Council HMO page: https://www.ealing.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/20113/schedule_of_fees_and_charges.pdf
• Full reference page: https://letsentry.co.uk/council/ealing

Mandatory HMO licensing applies in both areas: any HMO occupied by 5 or more people forming 2 or more households needs a licence anywhere in England.

Sources: - legislation.gov.uk — Housing Act 2004 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/34/contents - GOV.UK — House in multiple occupation (HMO) licence — https://www.gov.uk/house-in-multiple-occupation-licence

Last verified: 2026-06-28. Reference data only — always check each council's own page before applying.