HMO Conversions Bromley

HMO conversion in Bromley is shaped by one borough-wide rule: a non-immediate Article 4 Direction removes the Class L right to turn a house into a small HMO in every ward except Biggin Hill and Darwin. So outside those two wards a landlord starts with a planning application, not a builder. We build the shared house to the consent, to Bromley's adopted HMO standards for bedroom sizes, shared kitchens and bathrooms within reach of every room, and to fire safety guidance for doors, detection and a protected escape route.

In Bromley, 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 Bromley: 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.

Bromley's HMO Article 4 and the planning route

Outside two wards, a small HMO in Bromley needs planning permission. National rules under Class L let a C3 house become a C4 HMO without an application, but Bromley's non-immediate Article 4 Direction removes that right across all wards except Biggin Hill and Darwin. Class L also never allowed one former house to become two or more separate C4 HMOs. Your agent confirms the ward and the use before any layout is drawn.

Size changes the route again. The London Plan glossary puts HMOs for three to six people in Use Class C4 and those for more than six people in Sui Generis, which needs planning permission in any Bromley ward. The London Plan's Policy H9 also asks boroughs to treat HMOs of a reasonable standard as housing worth protecting. For an investor, the number of bedrooms is therefore a planning decision first and a building decision second.

Housing in Bromley

The Council Tax list puts Bromley at about 143,450 homes, 33% flats against 67% houses; 17% went up before 1919, 30% between the wars and 53% after 1945.

Which Bromley HMOs need a licence

Bromley runs one licensing scheme for shared houses: the mandatory one. The council operates no additional or selective licensing scheme. An HMO in Bromley needs a licence when it is occupied by 5 or more tenants, or 4 or more with a live-in landlord, in 2 or more households sharing at least a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. A three or four person shared house with no resident landlord therefore falls outside licensing, though planning still applies.

Licensing sits apart from the build approvals. Bromley says an HMO once created is subject to its adopted standards and licensing, and that these requirements are separate from planning and building control. A completion certificate does not mean the house is licensable. GOV.UK warns that renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine, so the landlord applies for the licence, and we build to the standards the licence will test.

Room and kitchen sizes under Bromley's HMO standards

Bromley's adopted HMO standards set the floor plan. A one-person bedroom must be at least 7m2 where there is an adequately sized shared kitchen and shared common room, and if a bedsit has its own cooking facilities, 5m2 is added. Both sit above the national mandatory licence conditions in force since 1 October 2018: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, 10.22 square metres for two, and no room under 4.64 square metres used for sleeping. We measure usable floor area in every room, leaving out floor under 1.5m ceiling height and space taken by fixed boxing or built-in cupboards, before a layout is priced, because those numbers decide how many lettable rooms the house yields.

The mandatory scheme stops short of flats in purpose-built blocks of three or more self-contained flats, which only an additional licensing scheme can catch.

The shared spaces are sized by headcount. A shared kitchen must be at least 7m2 for up to 5 people, with a further 1.5m2 for each additional person, and common rooms at least 11m2 for up to 5 people plus 1m2 per extra person. Every unit must also be within one floor distance of a bathroom or shower room. In a three-storey Bromley terrace that often means a second bathroom on the top floor.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Bromley shared house

Fire safety is the heaviest part of an HMO build in Bromley. The stair becomes a protected escape route, with fire-resisting doors on self-closers to every bedroom and the kitchen, and a linked detection and alarm system across the house. Building regulations Part B applies to the works, and the LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised guide for the standard a licensing officer expects. We plan cable routes and door linings before the plasterer arrives.

Sound and energy come next. Lettings sharing a wall or floor benefit from acoustic insulation in partitions and ceilings, which cuts complaints between tenants. On energy, the position depends on how the house is let. Where the whole house is let on one tenancy, it needs an EPC, and Bromley's landlord guidance says private rented property must reach E or above, with no tenancy granted on a band F or G home without an exemption. A house let room by room generally needs no EPC. We fit insulation and heating controls before decoration either way.

• Shared kitchens enlarged or added for the number of occupants
• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Extra shared bathrooms and shower rooms

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 39 statistical areas in Bromley. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If you are weighing up hmo conversions in Bromley, it may help to read bathroom renovation in Bromley, our Bromley area guide, how building control works in London, what a kitchen fit covers, hmo conversions across London and Renovation Budget & Contingency.

Working With GS Renovation in Bromley

An HMO is built to three sets of rules at once: the planning consent, building regulations and Bromley's licensing standards. We take the approved drawings and the standards, check every room against the minimum sizes, and give you a programme in which fire doors, alarms and bathrooms go in the right order. The founder measures the house before pricing. You or your agent apply for planning and the licence; we build to them and hand over the certificates the licensing officer will ask to see.

• Fire doors, closers and seals fitted to every door on the escape route
• Paperwork and certificates handed over for when you sell
• En-suites placed only where a soil stack can serve them

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