HMO Conversions Bloomsbury

HMO work in Bloomsbury is shaped by a stock that is 97% flats, on a VOA count for a wider statistical area that also takes in Holborn and parts of Fitzrovia and King's Cross, and by a borough-wide licensing regime. A family house to turn into a shared house is rare here, so the jobs are more often a shared flat, a converted house already let in rooms, or an existing HMO that must be brought up to Camden's licence standards. The landlord applies for the licence and any planning permission; we build the fire doors, detection, kitchens, bathrooms and room layouts the licence and approval set.

In Bloomsbury, 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 Bloomsbury: 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 Bloomsbury: C4, sui generis and Policy H10

The planning route for a Bloomsbury HMO depends on how many people will share. Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits a change from a C3 dwellinghouse to a C4 HMO, and the London Plan defines C4 as three to six people. An HMO for more than six people is sui generis and needs planning permission. An Article 4 direction can remove the Class L right, and the London Plan asks boroughs weighing such directions to consider the strategic importance of HMOs, so confirm with Camden whether one covers your building.

Two further rules bite in an area of flats. Class L does not let a building used as a single dwellinghouse become two or more separate C4 HMOs. And Camden Local Plan Policy H10 supports new HMOs only where they will not involve the loss of two or more self-contained homes, among other criteria. Knocking several Bloomsbury flats together into one large shared house therefore needs a planning case. Your designer or agent settles the route, and we price from the approved scheme.

Housing in Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury's housing, as the Council Tax list records it, is about 14,890 homes: 3% houses, 97% flats, with 49% pre-1919, 13% interwar and 37% built since 1945.

Camden's additional licensing and a Bloomsbury HMO

A shared let in Bloomsbury with three or more people forming two or more households now needs a licence. GOV.UK defines a large HMO, which needs a mandatory licence, as one rented to 5 or more people forming more than 1 household. Camden's additional licensing picks up the rest: any HMO occupied by 3 or more people forming 2 or more households that mandatory licensing does not cover. Camden says HMO flats in purpose built blocks of 3 or more flats must also be licensed under the additional scheme, even though they are exempt from mandatory licensing.

The current designation was made on 2 July 2025, came into force on 8 December 2025 and ceases to have effect on 8 December 2030. It is Camden's third borough-wide additional scheme, replacing the one that ran from December 2020, and it covers the whole borough. For a landlord that means the licence conditions, not just the building regulations, define the finished job. We work from the licence conditions and any schedule of works the council issues, and programme the works so the property can be inspected before the first tenancy.

Room sizes and shared kitchens under Camden's HMO standards

Camden's HMO standards set the layout of a Bloomsbury shared house more than any design preference. Where the kitchen is in a separate room, a single sleeping room must be at least 9m2 and a double 11m2; where kitchen facilities are in the room, the minimums rise to 12m2 and 14m2. No more than two people may occupy any room regardless of its size. Beneath those, the national licence conditions apply: 6.51m2 for one adult, 10.22m2 for two, and no room under 4.64m2 used for sleeping. In a Georgian building with large front rooms and small back rooms, those figures decide which rooms can be doubles.

Kitchens follow the number of sharers. Five people can share one full set of kitchen facilities, and more than five need an additional set. Camden's standards also set minimum shared kitchen floor areas that rise with the number of sharers. Putting a kitchenette or shower into a bedroom is a different matter: Camden warns that self-containing shared accommodation may need planning permission, so check with planning before we install one. We set out walls, worktops and services to the licensed occupancy.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Bloomsbury HMO

Fire safety is the core of HMO work in Bloomsbury's older buildings, where lath and plaster ceilings, timber stairs and panelled doors are typical of that period. A shared house needs a protected escape route, fire resisting self-closing doors to rooms off it, interlinked detection and alarms, and emergency lighting where the layout calls for it. Building regulations Part B, the council's HMO fire standards and the LACORS housing fire safety guidance set the level, and we fit to the schedule agreed for your property.

Sound and energy come next. Rooms let to separate households call for better sound insulation between them than one family would accept, so we add mass and resilient layers to shared walls and floors where they are opened. A let HMO is also caught by MEES: GOV.UK says that since 1 April 2020 landlords cannot let or continue to let below an EPC rating of E without a valid exemption. Insulating the roof, draught proofing sashes and renewing heating are usually folded into the same programme.

• Separate WCs and wash basins to the amenity standard
• Extra shared bathrooms and shower rooms
• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Fitzrovia East & Bloomsbury West, Holborn, St Giles & Bloomsbury South and King's Cross & Bloomsbury North. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If this is your first project in Bloomsbury, these are worth a look: bathroom renovation in Bloomsbury, hmo conversions across Camden, what a main building contractor does, what a snagging list covers, how we handle hmo conversions across London and Bathroom Renovation Cost.

The GS Renovation Difference in Bloomsbury

An HMO in Bloomsbury has to satisfy Camden's licensing officers as well as building control, and the two are best dealt with in one programme. We work from the licence conditions and the approved layout, fit the fire doors, detection, kitchens, bathrooms and partitions to them, and sequence the job so it can be inspected before tenants move in. Where the property is occupied, we phase the work room by room. Our founder leads the work, and you deal with one point of contact.

• Article 4 and licence position checked before a room is priced
• Sound lining between bedrooms so one sharer does not keep another awake
• Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs

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