Security and Fire Safety in North London: Barnet, Enfield and Haringey

What we do in North London

Six services, each with its own page. Pick the one that matches what you have been told to sort out.

• Fire risk assessments for blocks of flats, converted houses, HMOs and shops with flats above. From about £550 + VAT for a small commercial premises.
• Fire door inspections with a photo report on every door. From £250 + VAT for a small building.
• Fire alarm installation and servicing for commercial and communal buildings, to BS 5839-1. A service visit starts from about £400 + VAT for a small system.
• CCTV installation for blocks, shops and industrial units.
• Intruder alarms, with monitoring from about £150 a year.
• Access control and door entry for communal entrances and offices.

A fire risk assessment and a fire door inspection are separate services. One does not cover the other. They sit side by side, and most blocks need both.

Barnet

A borough with a licensing scheme that reaches smaller HMOs, and growth areas full of newer flats.

Barnet runs a borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme. The council's page gives it as 27 October 2022 to 27 October 2027. It is aimed at HMOs that mandatory licensing does not reach, including smaller shared houses and some converted buildings. If you let a house to three or four sharers, check the scheme before you assume you are exempt.

The council's own tall buildings study names Colindale, Brent Cross, Cricklewood and West Hendon as growth areas where taller buildings have gone up. Newer blocks bring their own questions: who holds the fire strategy, who checks the flat doors, and whether the building is over 11 metres. Our Barnet page has the local detail, and we also cover Finchley, Edgware and Stanmore.

Enfield

Borough-wide HMO licensing, a large industrial area in the east, and regeneration around Meridian Water.

Enfield's renewed additional HMO licensing scheme started on 1 September 2025 and applies to all areas of the borough. It replaced the first scheme, which began on 1 September 2020. The council has also consulted on selective licensing for privately rented homes, which would apply to single-let properties in some areas. Check the council's licensing pages for what applies to your street.

Brimsdown is a Strategic Industrial Location in the council's planning policy, and the Edmonton Leeside area has many more industrial estates. Units there need alarms, emergency lighting, perimeter CCTV and fire risk assessments just like a shop does, usually with bigger roller doors and longer cable runs. Meridian Water is the borough's main regeneration site, with tall residential buildings approved. See our Enfield page for more, and Cheshunt, Waltham Cross and Potters Bar just over the Hertfordshire border.

Haringey

A borough-wide HMO scheme running to 2029 and a lot of converted houses.

Haringey's Cabinet considered a new borough-wide additional licensing scheme for HMOs on 12 March 2024, covering 2024 to 2029 in every ward. Check the council's licensing page for the scheme as it now stands, and for whether selective licensing applies in your ward.

We cover Haringey from Luton like the rest of this page. The London page covers the wider picture. We do not have a separate Haringey page, so use the North London service pages above.

Camden, Islington and Waltham Forest

We take work in these boroughs when it suits, usually larger blocks and commercial buildings.

Each borough runs its own licensing and its own rules for HMOs, and they change. We do not list them here. Send the postcode and we will tell you which pages apply and what the council is likely to ask for.

Who enforces fire safety in London

The London Fire Brigade is the fire and rescue authority for every London borough.

The Brigade enforces the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in non-domestic premises and the common parts of blocks of flats. It can inspect, serve enforcement notices and publishes recent notices. Typical failings in notices it has issued include no review of the fire risk assessment, blocked escape routes and poorly maintained fire doors. For blocks over 11 metres, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 add specific duties on fire door checks.

Council housing teams enforce HMO licensing separately. The two regimes overlap in shared houses, and an assessment that satisfies one is useful evidence for the other.

How London work is priced

Parking, congestion and slow journeys are real costs. We build them into one number.

We confirm a fixed price including travel before anyone comes out. For a small job we often price from photos, drawings and the details you send. For larger blocks we ask for the access arrangements, lift and riser details and the last assessment if there is one. Our national fire risk assessment page, fire door inspection page, fire alarm page and CCTV page explain each service in full.

Sources

• Barnet Council: HMO and property licensing
• Enfield Council: new additional HMO licensing scheme (March 2025)
• Enfield Council: selective licensing consultation
• Haringey Council: additional licensing for HMOs 2024 to 2029
• London Fire Brigade: fire safety in the workplace
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)

Updated October 2026 by Sebastian Grabowski, DC Fire & Security, 2 Winsdon Court, Luton LU1 5LZ.