HMO Conversions Dulwich

An HMO conversion in Dulwich turns a family house into a shared house, or brings an existing HMO up to the standard its licence demands. Southwark's additional HMO licensing covers the whole borough until 1 March 2027 unless revoked earlier, including HMOs let to up to 4 sharers, so while it runs a shared house here needs a licence whatever its size. We build the letting rooms, the shared kitchens and bathrooms, and the fire doors, detection and escape routes to Southwark's HMO Standards and to the conditions the landlord's licence sets.

In Dulwich, 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 Dulwich: 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 an HMO in Dulwich: C4, sui generis and Article 4

A shared house is a different project from a flat conversion, with different rules. Class L permitted development lets a house change from C3 to a small C4 HMO, but not into two or more separate HMOs, and the London Plan treats three to six sharers as C4 and more than six as Sui Generis. Southwark says planning permission is needed to let a property as an HMO to seven or more people, or for any HMO inside an Article 4 direction area.

Southwark's HMO Article 4 directions include Henshaw Street in SE17 and Bywater Place in SE16, both outside Dulwich, so check the council's current list for your address before you buy. Where planning permission is needed, Southwark Plan 2022 Policy P9 asks a new HMO for communal indoor and outdoor space, refuse and recycling storage and one cycle parking space per occupant. It must also meet the council's HMO standards and not add to an overconcentration of HMOs in the area, which the planning officer will weigh.

Housing in Dulwich

Around 14,360 homes make up Dulwich on the valuation list; 55% are flats and 45% houses, and 56% date from before 1919, 11% from between the wars and 30% from after 1945.

Mandatory and additional HMO licensing across Dulwich

Licensing applies to shared houses across the whole borough. Southwark's additional HMO licensing designation came into force on 1 March 2022, runs until 1 March 2027 unless revoked earlier and covers the entire borough, including HMOs let to no more than 4 people who share bathrooms or kitchens. An HMO let to 5 or more people forming more than 1 household needs a mandatory licence instead. GOV.UK warns that renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine, so a Dulwich HMO should be licensed before tenants move in.

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 landlord applies for the licence, and we build to the conditions it sets. Southwark's additional licensing also includes section 257 HMOs, buildings of 3 or more floors converted into 3 or more self-contained flats under the same ownership or control, and Southwark does not charge for that licence. That matters to a Dulwich landlord who owns a whole converted villa and lets every flat. Separately, selective licensing covers other private lets in wards including Dulwich Hill and Dulwich Wood.

Room sizes, kitchens and bathrooms in a Dulwich HMO

Room sizes decide how many people the house can take. Southwark's HMO Standards set at least 10 square metres for a single letting room and 14 square metres for a double where the kitchen is in a separate room. Rooms also need a ceiling height of at least 2.3 metres over at least half of the habitable floor area. In a Dulwich terrace the small back bedroom over the closet wing and the attic rooms under a sloping roof are often the ones that fail, so we measure every room at survey.

Shared facilities follow the headcount. Where exclusive facilities cannot be provided, Southwark's HMO Standards ask for one bathroom or shower room, one toilet and one wash hand basin for every 5 occupants, and one set of kitchen facilities for every 5 occupants. The national minimums that have been licence conditions since 2018 apply as well: 6.51 square metres for one adult, 10.22 for two, and no sleeping room under 4.64. For a six-person Dulwich house that means planning a second bathroom and a second set of kitchen facilities, with drainage and ventilation routes worked out before the walls go up.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Dulwich shared house

Fire safety is the heart of an HMO conversion. A shared house needs a protected escape route, fire doors with self-closers to every letting room and the kitchen, and a linked fire detection and alarm system to the grade the licence asks for. The LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised guide, alongside Part B of the Building Regulations and the council's HMO fire standards. With 56% of Dulwich homes built before 1919, old lath ceilings and open timber stairs often need upgrading to hold back a fire.

Tenants live close together, so sound and energy matter too. We add insulation and a resilient layer to the floors between letting rooms where the plan stacks bedrooms over living spaces. The house must also meet the energy rules for lettings: since 1 April 2020 a covered property cannot be let, or go on being let, with an EPC below E unless a valid exemption applies. We fit insulation, heating controls and draught proofing in the same Dulwich programme.

• Insulation and heating upgrades toward the minimum EPC for letting
• Self-closing fire doors and frames to every bedroom and the kitchen
• Protected escape routes through the hall, stair and landings

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for North Dulwich, East Dulwich, Herne Hill & Dulwich Park and Dulwich Hill. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Related reading for Dulwich landlords planning hmo conversions: bathroom renovation in Dulwich, hmo conversions across Southwark, how building control works in London, what a snagging list covers, our London hmo conversions page and How to Choose a Builder.

The GS Renovation Difference in Dulwich

An HMO is inspected against written standards, so we plan the house to them from the start rather than fixing it after a licensing visit. We measure the rooms at survey, lay out the kitchens and bathrooms against the headcount, and build the fire doors, detection and escape route in the right order. The landlord applies for the licence; we give you the room measurements, programme and completion records it needs. The company is founder-led: Abdelaaziz Saaid has more than three decades of hands-on building experience.

• En-suites placed only where a soil stack can serve them
• Article 4 and licence position checked before a room is priced
• Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages

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