HMO Conversions Hackney

HMO conversion in Hackney is shaped more by licensing than by building work. The council operates 3 kinds of property licence (mandatory HMO, additional HMO and selective), and its additional scheme starts at just 3 or 4 sharers from 2 or more households. An independent review cited by the council put the share of Hackney HMOs with a serious hazard at 30%. So a shared house here is built to the licence conditions for bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire safety from the first drawing.

In Hackney, 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 Hackney: 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.

Hackney property licences and shared houses

A Hackney shared house has to be planned around the licence it will need. Three or four tenants who come from 2 or more households already trigger Hackney's additional HMO licence, and that includes flats inside converted houses. Once the house holds 5 or more people from 2 or more households, the mandatory HMO licence applies instead. The head count is therefore a design decision, because it sets the kitchens, bathrooms and fire precautions the house must have.

The council also warns that a building split into flats with no shared kitchens or bathrooms can still fall under the additional scheme if the occupiers share a living room. That catches studio layouts built around a common lounge. The landlord or their agent makes the application; we build the kitchens, bathrooms, fire doors and alarms to the conditions it will carry, so the inspection finds a finished house rather than a snagging list.

Housing in Hackney

Count the homes in Hackney and you get about 120,710: 56% built since 1945, 8% between the wars and 35% before 1919, with flats at 83% and houses at 17%.

Planning a Hackney HMO: C4 and sui generis

The planning question for a Hackney HMO turns on how many people will live there. In the London Plan's glossary a shared house for three to six residents is Use Class C4, while one for more than six falls outside any class as sui generis. Nationally, Class L of the 2015 General Permitted Development Order lets a C3 house become a C4 HMO without an application, unless an Article 4 Direction takes that right away for the address.

So a large HMO of seven or more needs planning permission, and a small one may too if a direction applies, which the landlord confirms with Hackney's planners before buying or designing. Class L cannot be used to turn one former house into two or more separate small HMOs either. Policy H9 of the London Plan asks boroughs to weigh the part HMOs play in meeting housing need and to protect those kept to a decent standard.

Room sizes, kitchens and fire safety in a Hackney HMO

Hackney's licence conditions cover the size of each bedroom, the kitchens and bathrooms provided, gas and electrical safety, and protection from fire and carbon monoxide. National minimum room sizes are mandatory licence conditions for HMOs in England. A room slept in by one person over 10 must be at least 6.51 square metres, a room for two people over 10 at least 10.22 square metres, and no room under 4.64 square metres may be used for sleeping. In a Victorian Hackney terrace the box room over the hall is often the casualty, so we measure every room before the layout is agreed.

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.

Fire safety is where an HMO differs most from a family house. The escape route through the hall and stair has to be protected, with fire doors on self-closers to each letting, interlinked detection and emergency lighting where the fire risk assessment asks for it. We build to Part B of the building regulations, the council's licence conditions and the LACORS housing fire safety guidance, and we fit carbon monoxide alarms wherever there is a gas appliance.

Selective licensing, energy and upgrading an existing Hackney HMO

Upgrading a Hackney shared house that is already let is a different job from converting a family home. Hackney said it would start processing additional HMO licence applications from 1 May 2026, the date its selective designation also came into force. A house let before then may need new fire doors, alarms or a second bathroom before the landlord applies. We survey the existing house against the conditions, list what falls short, and phase the work room by room so most tenants can stay while the upgrade is done.

Energy is part of the same upgrade. Under the national rules, since 1 April 2020 a landlord cannot let, or continue to let, a home rated below E on its EPC unless a valid exemption is registered. Hackney also offers a possible reduction in the licence fee where the property reaches band C or better. We add sound insulation between lettings where rooms share a wall or floor, and price the energy items so the landlord sees their effect.

• Protected escape routes through the hall, stair and landings
• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Self-closing fire doors and frames to every bedroom and the kitchen

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 30 statistical areas in Hackney. Counts rounded by the VOA.

People planning hmo conversions in Hackney may also want bathroom renovation in Hackney, our Hackney area guide, what a main building contractor does, how snagging works at handover, our London hmo conversions page and House Rewire Cost.

Working With GS Renovation in Hackney

We build shared houses to the licence conditions and the fire strategy, so the council's inspector finds the rooms, facilities and alarms already in place. We visit before we quote in writing, and one contact stays with the job. The founder has over three decades of hands-on building work. Electrics are certified by a registered electrician, gas work is done by a Gas Safe engineer, and we hand over the certificates the licence application needs.

• Existing HMOs brought up to licence conditions, fire works first
• Finished and snagged before the council's licence inspection
• Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you

Reviewed jobs near Hackney

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

• Install new dishwasher, Stoke Newington, 24 May 2021 (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).