Make more of your property—responsibly.

What is an HMO?

A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is a property where three or more people from more than one household live together and share facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. A large HMO — five or more occupiers forming two or more households — normally needs a mandatory licence from the council. Many London boroughs also operate additional licensing schemes that cover smaller shared houses, so the number of bedrooms alone never tells the whole story.

Do you need planning permission for an HMO?

Converting a family home (Use Class C3) into a small shared house for up to six people (Use Class C4) is often permitted development. Where a borough has made an Article 4 direction, that right is withdrawn and a full planning application is required. Any HMO for seven or more occupiers is a sui generis use and always needs planning permission.

Article 4 directions in London

An Article 4 direction lets a council remove permitted development rights in a defined area, usually to manage the concentration of shared housing. Large parts of London are covered, and the boundaries and wording differ between boroughs. We check the direction that applies to your exact address before any design work begins, because it determines whether you are making a straightforward conversion or a policy-led planning case.

HMO room sizes and space standards

Licensing sets minimum sleeping-room floor areas: 6.51m² for one person over ten years old, 10.22m² for two people sharing, and 4.64m² for a child under ten. Rooms under 4.64m² cannot be used as sleeping accommodation at all. Councils commonly ask for more than the minimum, and many apply the nationally described space standards as a quality benchmark, alongside requirements for kitchen and bathroom provision, storage, daylight and ceiling height.

What are the requirements for a 4 bed HMO?

A four-bedroom shared house for four or five occupiers typically needs: rooms meeting the minimum areas above, enough kitchen worktop, sink, cooking and fridge provision for the number of occupiers, adequate bathrooms and WCs, a compliant fire strategy with fire doors, interlinked alarms and protected escape route, secure refuse and cycle storage, and gas and electrical safety certification. Depending on the borough it may also need additional licensing and, under an Article 4 direction, planning permission.

Fire safety and building regulations

Most HMO conversions engage Building Regulations Part B for fire safety, Part E for sound insulation between rooms, Part F for ventilation, Part L for energy performance and Part M for access. Getting the escape route, compartmentation and acoustic separation right at design stage is far cheaper than reworking a half-built project after an inspection.

What should you check before converting a property into an HMO?

Start with the address, not the floor plan: planning history, the local Article 4 position, the licensing scheme in force, tenure and lease restrictions, and any conservation area or listed status. Then test the realistic occupancy against room sizes and shared facilities. That early work prevents expensive redesign later.

Costs, timescales and value

A planning application decision usually takes eight weeks from validation, and licensing runs on its own timeline. Structural changes such as removing a load-bearing wall to improve a layout need calculations and, where a neighbour is affected, party wall notices. We handle those alongside the design — see our structural engineering and party wall services.

Local knowledge matters

We support HMO projects across London, including Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Barnet, Enfield, Islington, Newham, Waltham Forest, Croydon and Kensington and Chelsea. Each council applies its own local policies alongside national planning rules, so every property needs a site-specific review.