HMO Conversions Bow

HMO conversion in Bow is tightly controlled, and the honest starting point is that the council's policies resist new ones. Tower Hamlets has removed the permitted development right to turn a house into a small HMO, and its Local Plan resists new shared housing that loses family homes. The work that does arise in Bow is bringing an existing, lawful HMO up to the borough's licensing standards, or building a new one where planning permission has been granted.

In Bow, 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 Bow: 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 for a new HMO in Bow after the Article 4

Turning a Bow house into a small HMO needs planning permission, because the permitted development route has been removed. Class L of the General Permitted Development Order normally allows a change from C3 to C4. The Tower Hamlets Article 4 direction removing that right was approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on 29 January 2020 and came into force on 1 January 2021. An HMO for more than six people is sui generis and needs planning permission in its own right.

The application then meets the Local Plan. It says conversion to hostels or other shared accommodation, including homes in multiple occupation, 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. In Bow, where only 19% of homes are houses, a scheme that turns a family house into shared rooms faces that test head on, so the owner should take planning advice before buying.

Housing in Bow

The valuation list shows roughly 15,000 homes in Bow, of which 23% are pre-1919, 2% interwar and 75% post-1945, split 81% flats to 19% houses.

Mandatory and additional HMO licensing covering Bow

Licensing applies on top of planning, and in Bow it reaches small shared lets as well as large ones. A mandatory licence covers a large HMO, rented to five or more people forming more than one household. The Mayor in Cabinet designated the whole of Tower Hamlets for additional HMO licensing on 25 October 2023, enforced from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2029 unless revoked earlier, and Bow West and Bow East are among the wards listed.

One exception matters here: a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more self-contained flats falls outside mandatory licensing, although a council's additional scheme can still cover it.

The additional scheme covers privately let properties, flats included, occupied by three or more people forming two or more households, irrespective of the number of storeys. Tower Hamlets says property licence applications are currently taking up to 12 months to complete. The landlord applies, and we build to the licence standards, so the application can go in with floor plans showing room sizes and the fire alarm, electrical and gas certificates ready. Letting a licensable HMO without a licence exposes the landlord to an unlimited fine.

Room sizes and kitchens under the Tower Hamlets HMO rules

Room sizes in a licensed Bow HMO are set by the borough's own amenity and room size standards, adopted at its October 2018 Cabinet meeting. A bedroom for one person must be at least 8.5m2, or 13m2 where it has kitchen facilities in the room, and a room for two people 13m2, or 18m2 with kitchen facilities. No room below 6.5m2 will be accepted as a sleeping room in a licensed property under any circumstances. Where an HMO needs a mandatory licence, the national conditions apply as well: 6.51 square metres for one adult, 10.22 for two, and no sleeping room under 4.64 square metres.

Those numbers decide how many lettable rooms a Bow house really gives, so plan the partitions against them before any stud goes up. The council's licensing guidance says kitchen facilities in shared housing should be no more than one floor away from the letting, which often means a second kitchen on an upper floor in a three storey house. The same guidance says that in new conversions a mechanical extractor must be installed in addition to any openable window, so we run extract ducting before the ceilings close.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Bow HMO

Fire safety in a Bow HMO is built around the escape route. The recognised guide is the LACORS housing fire safety guidance, read with Part B of the building regulations and the council's licence conditions. In a Victorian terrace that usually means a protected stair enclosure, fire doors with self closers on every letting and the kitchen, an interlinked fire detection and alarm system, and emergency lighting where the route needs it. We fire stop every service passing through the stair enclosure.

Sound and energy are the other two checks. Timber floors between lettings in an older Bow house carry noise, so insulation between joists and a resilient layer reduce complaints between tenants who keep different hours. On energy, GOV.UK says that since 1 April 2020 landlords can no longer let or continue to let properties covered by the MEES Regulations with an EPC rating below E without a valid exemption. That applies to an HMO as much as to a single let.

• Snagging before the council's licence inspection
• Shared kitchens enlarged or added for the number of occupants
• Sound lining to bedroom walls and party walls

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Bow North & Fish Island, Bow West and Bow South. Counts rounded by the VOA.

For the wider picture around hmo conversions in Bow, see bathroom renovation in Bow, hmo conversions across Tower Hamlets, how building control works in London, what a snagging list covers, hmo conversions across London and Getting Planning Permission.

Working With GS Renovation in Bow

An HMO is judged room by room and door by door, so small errors cost a licence. We build to the planning consent and the licence standards your agent has worked to, and set out every room against the measured sizes before a stud goes up. We install fire doors, detection and extraction in the order the inspector will check them. You or your agent hold the planning and the licence application. We supply the drawings, programme and certificates it needs, from a registered electrician and a registered gas engineer.

• Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
• En-suites placed only where a soil stack can serve them
• Fire doors, closers and seals fitted to every door on the escape route

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