HMO Conversions Borehamwood

An HMO conversion in Borehamwood is built to Hertsmere's licence standards. Hertsmere requires an HMO licence for properties occupied by five or more people in two or more households, and it warns that any property with more than six persons may need planning permission. The rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and fire precautions all follow from the number of sharers, so that number is fixed first. The landlord or their agent applies for the licence and any consent; we build the house to the layout that goes into the application.

For Borehamwood, 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 (Mayfair Studio and LetCompliance, 2026); a Hertfordshire price follows a site visit. GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Borehamwood: 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.

HMO licensing and planning for a Borehamwood shared house

A shared house in Borehamwood needs an HMO licence from Hertsmere once five or more people in two or more households live there. The licensing covers houses, flats or parts of buildings of any size, including habitable basements and attics and commercial premises such as a maisonette over a shop. That last point can matter for the upper floors above shop units on Shenley Road, while a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more flats is outside mandatory licensing. The owner or their agent applies for the licence; we build the rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire precautions to the standard the licence will be judged against.

Hertsmere warns that any property with more than six persons may need planning permission, so a Borehamwood house planned for seven sharers is a planning question as well as a licensing one. Settle both before the layout is fixed, because the number of bedrooms drives the number of bathrooms, the kitchen size and the fire detection design. Nationally, changing a house into a small HMO for three to six sharers (C3 to C4) is permitted development unless a council direction removes that right, so check the address with Hertsmere. A larger HMO is sui generis and needs permission.

Housing in Borehamwood

The valuation list shows roughly 15,090 homes in Borehamwood, of which 2% are pre-1919, 8% interwar and 90% post-1945, split 36% flats to 63% houses.

Hertsmere's HMO amenity standards inside a Borehamwood shared house

Hertsmere's HMO amenity standards set the physical build of a Borehamwood shared house. Where five or more occupiers share facilities, they require at least one bathroom with a fixed bath or shower for every five sharing occupiers. They also require a minimum floor to ceiling height of 2130mm in all rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and toilet compartments, which rules out low attic rooms and some rooms under stairs. One room unit sizes can be reduced by up to 1.5 m2, to 6.5 m2, at the inspecting officer's discretion where communal living or dining space exists.

On top of the council's standards, national minimum room sizes have been mandatory licence conditions in England since 1 October 2018. They are 6.51 square metres for one adult and 10.22 for two, and no room under 4.64 square metres may be used for sleeping. No local discretion takes an adult's bedroom below 6.51. A room too small to sleep in can still serve as a study or a store. We draw the layout with the measured floor area of each room written on it, so the licensing officer and the landlord are looking at the same numbers.

Fire safety and the standards under review in Borehamwood

Fire safety is the core of an HMO build in Borehamwood. The recognised guide is the LACORS housing fire safety guidance, read with Part B of the Building Regulations. It points to fire doors with self closers to the bedrooms and kitchen, an interlinked detection and alarm system suited to the size of the house, and a protected escape route down the stair to the front door. We fit the doors, detection and escape route lining in the same programme, and the alarm is commissioned and certified before tenants move in.

Hertsmere's HMO amenity standards were prepared jointly with all Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire local authorities for a consistent approach, so a landlord with houses across the county meets similar rules. They are also under review: on 20 July 2026 Hertsmere opened consultation, which ran until 31 August, on new draft HMO amenity standards covering bedroom sizes, kitchens, bathrooms, communal space, storage and refuse. For a Borehamwood conversion being drawn now, check which version will apply when the licence application goes in, before partitions and bathroom positions are fixed.

Enforcement, energy and sound in a Borehamwood HMO

An HMO in Borehamwood is a rented home, so it also has to meet the Housing Acts and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. Hertsmere can apply civil penalties where landlords fail to comply with housing notices, plus an administrative charge per notice served. Building the house properly at the conversion stage, with the damp, heating, ventilation and fire hazards dealt with, is cheaper than reacting to a notice with tenants in place. The licence fee also rises with each person above five, which is worth knowing when setting the room count.

Sound and energy decide how well the house lets. Bedrooms sharing a wall or sitting over a kitchen benefit from sound insulation between lettings, such as a resilient bar ceiling and mineral wool in the partitions. Where the house needs an EPC to be let, the minimum energy efficiency rules bar letting below band E unless an exemption is registered, and a house let room by room should check how the rules apply. Insulating the loft and walls, and fitting heating controls in each room, raise the rating before the first tenancy starts.

• Shared kitchens enlarged or added for the number of occupants
• Existing HMOs upgraded to meet their licence conditions
• Large HMO conversions for seven or more, once planning is granted

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Borehamwood Cowley Hill, Borehamwood Brookmeadow, Borehamwood Kenilworth and Borehamwood Hillside. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If you are weighing up options for your Borehamwood property, it is worth reading bathroom renovation in Borehamwood, hmo conversions in Radlett, what a main building contractor does, kitchen fitting in London, our London hmo conversions page and Getting Planning Permission.

Trusted HMO Conversions in Borehamwood

GS Renovation builds Borehamwood HMOs to the licence layout, with one point of contact for the whole job. We measure every room against the standards before drawing it, build the fire doors, protected escape route and extra bathrooms, and coordinate the alarm, electrics and plumbing. A registered electrician certifies the electrical work and an engineer on the Gas Safe Register handles any gas work. At handover you get the certificates and room measurements the licensing officer will ask for, while you or your agent keep the licence application.

• Free follow-up visit after completion if anything needs attention
• Sound lining between bedrooms so one sharer does not keep another awake
• Existing HMOs brought up to licence conditions, fire works first

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