Croydon Council has delayed the start of its new additional HMO and selective licensing schemes until 25 September, despite both schemes having originally been due to begin on 1 September.
The council’s licensing pages now say online applications will open on 25 September 2026 and that qualifying properties in the designated areas will need a licence from that date. That leaves landlords facing a late change to a compliance timetable that had already been widely publicised.
A moving start date creates practical and legal uncertainty for landlords. Owners who had prepared for a 1 September launch must now work to a different deadline, while the council’s own public wording also raises questions about how scheme commencement dates can be amended once formal notices have been issued.
Council pages now point landlords to a later launch date
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s March report on Croydon’s dual licensing plans covering most of the borough’s rental stock and its July coverage of landlord licensing costs rising as more councils widen schemes. Croydon’s current licensing hub page now states that online applications will open on 25 September.
The council’s updated scheme guidance says two new schemes will come into force on 25 September 2026 and tells landlords not to attempt to apply before that date. The main hub page also links to a notice of amendment to the commencement date.
That is a material change for landlords in affected wards and for smaller HMOs across the borough. Anyone who had lined up applications, compliance checks or tenant communications around the original start date now has a short delay, but not much more clarity about the reason for the change or the risk of any further slippage.
Short delay does not remove the compliance burden
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s wider reporting on councils using licensing more aggressively as an enforcement tool. The revised timetable may offer a few extra weeks, but it does not change the underlying direction of travel for landlords in Croydon, who will still need their paperwork, management arrangements and property standards ready.
For landlords, the main takeaway is to use the gap well rather than treat it as breathing space. The borough’s selective scheme will still cover privately rented homes in 14 wards, while the additional scheme will capture smaller HMOs that fall outside mandatory licensing.
If Croydon is forced to explain the legal basis for the revised launch more fully, the change could also be watched closely by other councils planning wide licensing rollouts. A shaky start is exactly the kind of thing that invites scrutiny where scheme design, notices and implementation deadlines are concerned.
What this means for landlords
- If you own property in Croydon’s affected wards: work to 25 September, not 1 September, but keep evidence of what the council has published.
- If you run a smaller HMO in the borough: use the extra time to check licence conditions, management standards and supporting documents.
- Watch for: a fuller public explanation from the council and any further change to application dates.
- If you operate in other licensing hotspots: this is a reminder to track council rollout pages closely, even after a start date has been announced.
- Bottom line: Croydon’s launch is delayed, but landlords should assume the compliance burden is only being pushed back by a few weeks.
Editor’s view
Licensing schemes are hard enough for landlords to plan around when councils stick to their own timetable. A late change like this undermines confidence and gives critics another reason to question whether large schemes are being rolled out cleanly. The prudent response is still to prepare early, document everything and expect little margin for error once applications open.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 2 September 2026
Sources: Croydon Council
Related reading: Croydon launches dual licensing schemes covering 73% of rental stock
