HMO Conversions Greenwich

An HMO conversion in Greenwich turns a family house into a shared house for unrelated tenants, or brings an existing HMO up to licence standard. The rules here are strict: Royal Greenwich's Article 4 direction on houses in multiple occupation covers the whole borough and came into force on 27 September 2018, and every HMO in the borough must be licensed. We build to the planning consent and licence conditions: room layouts, fire doors and detection, kitchens and bathrooms for the number of sharers.

In Greenwich, 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 Greenwich: 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 anywhere in Greenwich

Any new HMO for 3 or more unrelated adults in Royal Greenwich needs planning permission. Nationally, Class L of the permitted development order lets a house change from Class C3 to Class C4 without an application, but the borough-wide Article 4 direction in force since 27 September 2018 takes that right away in Greenwich. So the first step for a landlord is a planning application, prepared by your agent or designer, and not a builder's quote.

The size of the HMO matters too. The London Plan glossary defines HMOs for three to six people as Use Class C4 and HMOs for more than six people as Sui Generis. A larger Greenwich house planned for seven or more sharers is a different application from a small shared house. We price and programme the build once the scheme and room count are fixed, because the room count sets the fire and amenity works.

Housing in Greenwich

Around 125,080 homes make up Greenwich on the valuation list; 55% are flats and 45% houses, and 22% date from before 1919, 17% from between the wars and 60% from after 1945.

Licensing and room standards for a Greenwich HMO

Royal Greenwich runs both mandatory and additional HMO licensing across the whole borough. Mandatory licensing applies where 5 or more people from 2 or more households share facilities, and additional licensing where 3 or 4 people do, so all HMOs in the borough must be licensed. The licence sets conditions on the property, and the build has to meet them before the rooms are let, so we price and programme against the council's HMO standards and the conditions your agent is given.

Mandatory licensing does not reach a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more self-contained flats; where such a flat is shared, it is the council's additional scheme, if any, that applies.

Royal Greenwich's HMO standards say no room with a floor area under 4.64 square metres may be used as sleeping accommodation, and they expect a minimum ceiling height of 2.1m over at least half of each room's floor area. Each bath or shower room must also contain a wash hand basin, and the minimum acceptable bath size is 1700mm by 700mm. National rules also make 6.51 square metres for one adult and 10.22 for two mandatory licence conditions. We set out partitions and bathrooms to the drawings and check that every Greenwich room clears those lines with the finishes on.

Fire doors, alarms and escape in a Greenwich shared house

Fire safety carries much of the building work in an HMO, and in Greenwich it is tied to the licence. Because every HMO in the borough is licensed, the fire precautions are measured against licence conditions rather than left to the landlord's judgement. The recognised guide is the LACORS housing fire safety guidance. It is risk-based, and typically points to fire doors with self-closers on each letting, a protected escape route down the stair, and an interlinked mains-powered alarm system matched to the number of storeys.

The building work follows from that. Each bedroom door becomes a fire door set, the stair enclosure is lined and sealed so smoke cannot reach the escape route, and the kitchen gets its own detection and a fire blanket. A change from house to small HMO is not itself a material change of use under the Building Regulations. The building work done for it, such as fire doors, partitions and new bathrooms, must still comply, so building control sees the same details. We leave ceilings and boxings open until the fire-stopping around pipes and cables is inspected.

Self-contained rooms, energy and sound in a Greenwich HMO

Some HMO schemes include studios with their own kitchen and shower. Royal Greenwich treats self-contained units in HMO proposals as self-contained accommodation that must meet London Plan Policy D6 space standards, so a studio inside a shared house is measured like a flat, not a room. Deciding early which lettings are shared rooms and which are studios changes the drainage, the ventilation and the size of every space on the plan.

Energy and noise come next. Where a Greenwich HMO needs an EPC, MEES applies and local authorities enforce it, so the conversion is the time to insulate the loft and walls, fit efficient heating and get a new EPC. Sound between lettings matters more than in a family home, because each room has a different tenant and timetable, so partitions get dense insulation and doors get seals. Policy H9 of the London Plan says HMOs of a reasonable standard should generally be protected.

• Large HMO conversions for seven or more, once planning is granted
• Emergency lighting on the escape route where the house needs it
• Service holes sealed so each bedroom and the kitchen stay separate fire compartments

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 35 statistical areas in Greenwich. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If you are weighing up hmo conversions in Greenwich, it may help to read bathroom renovation in Greenwich, our Greenwich area guide, what a main building contractor does, kitchen fitting in London, hmo conversions anywhere in London and House Rewire Cost.

Working With GS Renovation in Greenwich

An HMO conversion has three sets of rules to satisfy at once, planning, licensing and building regulations, and the build must meet all of them before the first tenant moves in. We run the strip-out, room layouts, fire precautions, kitchens, bathrooms and decoration as one programme, working to the consent and licence conditions your agent secures. A registered electrician certifies the wiring and alarm circuits, and an engineer on the Gas Safe Register handles any gas work. You get one site contact throughout.

• One point of contact on the phone, not a call centre
• Fire doors, closers and seals fitted to every door on the escape route
• Finished and snagged before the council's licence inspection

Reviewed jobs near Greenwich

1 MyBuilder review from Woolwich, with each customer's own job title:

• Replace kitchen extractor hob, Woolwich, 27 Apr 2024 (5 out of 5)

Read all 31 on our reviews page.

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