Lambeth Council is warning landlords ahead of law changes in October, which will see a licence needed for all properties with five or more unrelated people living in them.

This comes after the council introduced its own measures to tackle rogue landlords, using powers from the Housing and Planning Act 2016, which could see landlords facing fines of up to £30,000 and banning orders for renting substandard accommodation.

Under the nation-wide changes, any landlord or agent whose rental property has five or more unrelated occupants will need a license.

This extends from the previous mandatory licensing regulations, which specified that the house needed to have three or more storeys.

The licence must be applied for before October 1 in order to lawfully continue to rent out the property.

Lambeth Council’s cabinet member for housing Cllr Paul Gadsby said residents needed to be protected from rogue landlords.

“We have a huge number of residents living in private rented accommodation in the borough and it is essential that we as a council protect them from rogue landlords providing dodgy accommodation to make a quick buck,” Cllr Gadsby said.

“The HMO licensing scheme is part of this process and landlords should ensure they are properly licenced,” he continued.

A rogue landlord was given a £10,000 fine last month after it was found his five-bedroom property have nine tenants living in it, with unsafe fire alarm systems and smoke detectors and deadlocks on doors.

Lambeth Council visited more than 300 properties where concerns were flagged about the standard of private rental accommodation.

An estimated 33 per cent of homes in Lambeth are privately rented, which translates to about 46,500 homes, according to council documents.