HMO Conversions Camden Town

HMO conversion in Camden Town is shaped by licensing as much as by planning. Camden's third borough-wide additional licensing scheme came into force on 8 December 2025 and catches HMOs of 3 or more people in 2 or more households that mandatory licensing misses. The building work is either turning one of the area's Victorian terraces into a shared house, or upgrading an existing HMO so it meets Camden's room, kitchen and fire standards.

In Camden Town, 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 Town: 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 a Camden Town HMO: C4, sui generis and Policy H10

The planning route for a Camden Town HMO depends on the number of occupants. The London Plan defines an HMO for three to six people as Use Class C4 and one for more than six people as sui generis. Class L of the General Permitted Development Order permits a change from C3 to C4 as permitted development, but an Article 4 direction can remove that right. Ask Camden planning whether one covers your address before you buy or design.

A large HMO for seven or more people always needs planning permission, and Camden Local Plan Policy H10 applies to new HMOs. H10 supports new HMOs only where they will not involve the loss of two or more self-contained homes, among other criteria, and resists the net loss of HMOs or the self-containment of any part of one. Class L also does not allow one house to become two separate C4 HMOs. That rules out splitting a Camden Town terrace into two shared houses without permission.

Housing in Camden Town

Count the homes in Camden Town and you get about 13,150: 54% built since 1945, 2% between the wars and 44% before 1919, with flats at 86% and houses at 14%.

Camden Town HMO licensing: mandatory and additional

GOV.UK defines a large HMO as one rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household, and that needs a mandatory licence anywhere in England unless it is a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more flats. Camden adds its own layer. The additional licensing designation was made on 2 July 2025, came into force on 8 December 2025 and ceases on 8 December 2030. It covers the whole borough, so, subject to the statutory exemptions, a Camden Town HMO of 3 or more people in 2 or more households needs a licence of one kind or the other.

The scheme also covers buildings converted into self-contained flats that do not meet the 1991 or later Building Regulations where less than half the flats are owner-occupied, known as section 257 HMOs. An older Camden Town terrace converted into flats that never met those regulations can fall under that. Renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine, GOV.UK says. The landlord or their agent applies for the licence, and we build the property to the conditions it sets.

Room sizes, kitchens and bathrooms in a Camden Town HMO

Camden's HMO standards decide the layout of a Camden Town shared house. A sleeping room must be at least 9m2 for one person and 11m2 for two where the kitchen is in a separate room, rising to 12m2 and 14m2 where kitchen facilities are in the room. These sit above the national licence minimums in England: 6.51 square metres for one adult, 10.22 for two, and no sleeping room under 4.64. No more than two people may occupy any room regardless of its size. Room sizes are measured on usable floor area: floor under a ceiling lower than 1.5m does not count, and fixed boxing or built-in cupboards reduce the area, so we set out partitions and boxing to leave each room above its figure.

Five people may share one full set of kitchen facilities, and more than five need an additional set. Camden also sets minimum shared kitchen floor areas by the number of sharers, starting with 3 to 4 persons. Adding a kitchen or shower room inside a bedroom can make it self-contained, which may need planning permission, so Camden asks owners to contact planning first. In a Camden Town terrace the kitchen and bathroom count is therefore fixed before any pipework is run.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Camden Town shared house

Fire safety takes up much of the building work in a Camden Town HMO. The escape route, usually the stair, is protected with fire resisting walls and ceilings, bedroom and kitchen doors become self-closing fire doors, and an interlinked detection and alarm system is installed to the category the fire risk assessment and the licence require. The LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised reference, and building regulations Part B applies where the work is notifiable.

Sound between lettings matters in a house where every room is let separately, so we add insulation to partitions and floors between bedrooms where the design calls for it. Energy is the other check. An HMO is caught by the MEES Regulations too: since 1 April 2020 a let property rated below EPC band E needs a valid exemption. In a solid-walled Camden Town terrace, loft and floor insulation, heating controls and better glazing where planning allows bring the rating up.

• Interlinked smoke and heat alarms, mains-wired and graded to the council's HMO fire guidance
• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Small HMO conversions for three to six sharers

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Camden Town & Mornington Crescent, Camden Street & Elm Village and Primrose Hill. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If this is your first project in Camden Town, these are worth a look: bathroom renovation in Camden Town, hmo conversions across Camden, bathroom fitting in London, kitchen fitting in London, our London hmo conversions page and Renovation Budget & Contingency.

Working With GS Renovation in Camden Town

An HMO conversion is only finished when the property passes its licence inspection. We build to Camden's room sizes, kitchen and bathroom ratios and the fire standards the licence sets, and we give the landlord or agent the drawings, specification and programme that the licence application and the officer ask to see. The fire doors, alarms and separating work go in first and are checked before decoration. One contact runs the job, backed by our founder's more than thirty years of hands-on experience.

• Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
• Article 4 and licence position checked before a room is priced
• 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).