HMO Conversions Camden

An HMO conversion in Camden turns a house or flat into a shared home for unrelated sharers, or brings an existing HMO up to licence standard. Camden runs additional HMO licensing across the whole borough, in force from 8 December 2025, on top of national mandatory licensing, and it sets its own room sizes and kitchen ratios. We build the fire protection, kitchens, bathrooms and room layout the licence conditions require; the landlord makes the application.

In Camden, 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 Camden: 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 shared house in Camden: C4, sui generis and Policy H10

How many people will live there decides the planning route. Nationally, Class L lets a C3 family house become a C4 shared house for three to six people as permitted development, though one house cannot become two or more separate C4 HMOs under it. Seven or more sharers takes the building out of C4 into sui generis, which needs planning permission. Boroughs can remove Class L with an Article 4 direction, so the owner checks the address before relying on it.

Camden then applies Local Plan Policy H10 to any new shared house. It backs a new HMO only where two or more self-contained homes are not lost, among other criteria, so combining flats to make one shared house runs into it. H10 also resists losing HMOs overall or making any part of one self-contained. The practical point for a landlord in Camden is that the layout chosen at the start is hard to change later.

Housing in Camden

Roughly 113,890 dwellings sit on the valuation list for Camden. 12% are houses and 88% flats, and by age 48% predate 1919, 9% are interwar and 42% post-war.

Mandatory and additional HMO licensing across Camden

Two layers of licensing apply. Nationally, a large HMO rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household needs a mandatory licence. On top of that, Camden made an additional licensing designation on 2 July 2025 that took effect on 8 December 2025 and lasts until 8 December 2030. It runs borough-wide and catches shared homes with 3 or more occupiers in 2 or more households where the mandatory scheme does not apply.

The 2025 scheme is Camden's third borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme, replacing the one that ran from December 2020 for 5 years. It also reaches HMO flats in purpose built blocks of 3 or more flats, which are exempt from mandatory licensing. The landlord applies for the licence; we carry out the works its conditions call for and keep the certificates the application needs together at handover. Where the licence asks for upgrades at renewal, we price them as a separate scope.

Room sizes and kitchens under Camden's HMO standards

Room sizes in a Camden HMO come from the council's own standards rather than the national minimums alone. With the kitchen in its own room, a bedroom for one needs 9m2 and a bedroom for two needs 11m2. Where cooking facilities sit inside the bedroom, the figures go up to 12m2 and 14m2. Two occupants is the most any room can take, however big. Beneath those sit the national licence minimums: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, 10.22 for two people over 10, and no sleeping room under 4.64. Room sizes are measured on usable floor area, so floor under a low sloping ceiling, fixed boxing and built-in cupboards do not count, and we mark out partitions to finished dimensions, after dry lining, before hanging doors.

The kitchen count follows the headcount. Up to five people may share a single full set of kitchen facilities; a sixth sharer means a second set, and the shared kitchen floor area grows with the number of people using it. En-suite kitchens or bathrooms inside bedrooms raise a planning point, because Camden's standards warn that self-containment of shared accommodation may need permission. The owner speaks to planning before we price that work.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Camden HMO

Fire protection is the heart of an HMO conversion. The usual scope is fire doors with self-closers to each room off the escape route, a protected stair, an interlinked detection and alarm system, and fire stopping wherever services cross walls and floors. LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised guide, read with Camden's licence conditions and building regulations Part B, and we agree the specification with the owner before the strip-out.

Sound and energy come next. Better sound insulation between lettings reduces complaints, so we add mass and resilient layers where floors and walls are open. Where the letting needs an EPC, for example a whole-house tenancy to a group of sharers, since 1 April 2020 it cannot be let or continue to be let below E without a valid exemption. A Camden house let room by room generally needs no EPC, though many councils expect one for a licensed HMO, so check the licence conditions. The government has confirmed plans to raise the minimum for private lets to EPC C, subject to regulations, so aim for C where the cost is reasonable. Insulation, heating controls and low energy lighting go in while the fabric is exposed, ready for the energy assessor.

• Insulation and heating upgrades toward the minimum EPC for letting
• Electrics extended to every bedroom, certified by a registered electrician
• Self-closing fire doors and frames to every bedroom and the kitchen

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 27 statistical areas in Camden. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Two or three things usually come up alongside hmo conversions on a Camden job: bathroom renovation in Camden, our Camden area guide, how building control works in London, kitchen fitting in London, hmo conversions across London and Getting Planning Permission.

Working With GS Renovation in Camden

An HMO conversion works when the licence conditions, fire strategy and room plan are settled before building starts. We read the conditions with you, build the fire doors, detection, kitchens and bathrooms they require. The landlord or their agent applies for the licence and any planning permission; we supply the programme, test certificates and photographic records the licensing officer asks for; your designer or agent prepares the drawings. The founder, Abdelaaziz Saaid, runs the job, and you get a written quotation after a site visit.

• Finished and snagged before the council's licence inspection
• Sound lining between bedrooms so one sharer does not keep another awake
• Site left safe and secure at the end of every day

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