HMO Conversions Bethnal Green

HMO work in Bethnal Green has two sides: creating a new HMO, which faces a steep planning test, and bringing an existing shared house or flat up to licence standard. Tower Hamlets removed the permitted right to turn a home into a small HMO by an Article 4 direction in force since 1 January 2021. Its Local Plan resists conversion to shared accommodation, and the Bethnal Green ward is named in the borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme.

In Bethnal Green, a light HMO conversion for four to six tenants typically costs £40,000 to £75,000 in construction, or £90,000 to £150,000 with an en-suite to every bedroom (indicative London ranges, Mayfair Studio and LetCompliance, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Bethnal Green: we build the fire doors, detection, bathrooms and kitchens to the council's HMO standards, the landlord applies for the licence, and a registered electrician certifies the electrics.

Planning an HMO in Bethnal Green under the Article 4 direction

Nationally, Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 lets a dwellinghouse change from C3 to a C4 house in multiple occupation without a planning application. Tower Hamlets has taken that right away. Tower Hamlets approved an Article 4 direction removing it in Cabinet on 29 January 2020, and it came into force on 1 January 2021. So even a small HMO for three to six sharers needs planning permission in Tower Hamlets, applied for by the owner or their agent.

The policy test is demanding. The Local Plan says conversion to shared accommodation, including HMOs, will be resisted, and Policy D.H7 supports new HMOs only where, among other criteria, they meet an identified need and do not lose existing larger family housing. The London Plan defines an HMO for more than six people as sui generis, which always needs permission. For a Bethnal Green investor, that makes planning the first hurdle, before any layout or building cost is worth drawing up.

Housing in Bethnal Green

Of the 15,320 homes the valuation list records in Bethnal Green, 20% were built before 1919, 10% between the wars and 70% since 1945; 90% are flats and 10% are houses.

The licensing schemes that cover a Bethnal Green HMO

The Mayor in Cabinet designated the whole of Tower Hamlets for additional HMO licensing on 25 October 2023. The designation is enforced from 1 April 2024 and runs until 31 March 2029 unless revoked earlier, and the Bethnal Green ward is one of those named in the scheme. It requires privately let properties, flats included, occupied by three or more people forming two or more households to be licensed, irrespective of the number of storeys.

A larger HMO, rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household, needs a mandatory licence. Flats in purpose-built blocks of three or more flats fall outside mandatory licensing, but the Tower Hamlets scheme covers them where five or more tenants form two or more households, which can reach privately let flats in Bethnal Green's purpose-built blocks. Tower Hamlets says licence applications are currently taking up to 12 months. The landlord applies for the licence, and we build the property to the conditions it will carry.

Room sizes and kitchens under the Tower Hamlets HMO standard

Tower Hamlets adopted its own HMO amenity and room size standards at its October 2018 Cabinet meeting, and they set the layout of a Bethnal Green HMO. A bedroom for one person must be at least 8.5m2, or 13m2 where it contains kitchen facilities. A room for two people must be at least 13m2, or 18m2 with kitchen facilities. No room below 6.5m2 is accepted as a sleeping room in a licensed property under any circumstances. These sit above the national mandatory licence conditions of 6.51m2 for one adult, 10.22m2 for two and no sleeping room under 4.64m2.

The kitchen rules affect where plumbing goes. The council's licensing guidance says kitchen facilities in shared housing should be no more than one floor away from the letting, so a tall Bethnal Green terrace may need a second kitchen on an upper floor. In new conversions a mechanical extractor must be installed in addition to any openable window. We measure each room against these figures before any partition is built, because a room a few centimetres short cannot be let as a bedroom.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Bethnal Green HMO

Fire safety is the core of an HMO conversion in Bethnal Green. The LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised guide, read alongside Part B of the building regulations and the licence conditions. In practice that means a protected escape route through the stair and hall and fire doors with self-closers on the bedrooms and kitchen, as the risk assessment requires. It also means an interlinked fire detection and alarm system suited to the layout, and fire stopping around pipes and cables that pass between rooms and floors.

Sharers live closer together than a family, so sound between lettings matters for the tenancy as well as the neighbours. Party walls and the floors between bedrooms are upgraded with insulation and resilient layers where the layout puts one letting above another. An HMO is also let property, so it has to meet the minimum energy efficiency standard: since 1 April 2020 a property covered by the MEES Regulations cannot be let below an EPC rating of E without a valid exemption.

• Insulation and heating upgrades toward the minimum EPC for letting
• Extra shared bathrooms and shower rooms
• Large HMO conversions for seven or more, once planning is granted

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 5 statistical areas in Bethnal Green. Counts rounded by the VOA.

When comparing hmo conversions in Bethnal Green with other work, it helps to read bathroom renovation in Bethnal Green, hmo conversions across Tower Hamlets, bathroom fitting in London, how snagging works at handover, hmo conversions across London and Kitchen Renovation Cost.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Bethnal Green

We build HMOs to the licence and the planning consent, not to a guess. After a site visit we measure every room against the Tower Hamlets standard and give a written quotation that lists the fire doors, detection, extraction and kitchen work each room needs. You or your agent apply for planning and the licence; we supply the scope and programme and build to the approved drawings and the licence conditions. A registered electrician certifies the wiring and alarm circuits, and a Gas Safe engineer handles gas work, so the property is ready for the council's inspection.

• Kitchens and bathrooms counted against the council's amenity standard
• Finished and snagged before the council's licence inspection
• Founder with 30+ years of hands-on experience

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254).