HMO Conversions Hammersmith and Fulham

An HMO conversion in Hammersmith and Fulham is shaped by licensing before layout. The council runs three property licensing schemes, mandatory HMO, additional HMO and selective licensing, and its additional HMO scheme is borough wide, so even a shared house for 3 or 4 people from 2 or more households needs a licence. We build the bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire protection to the standards the licence will check, for a landlord turning a family house into a shared one or bringing an existing HMO up to standard.

In Hammersmith and Fulham, 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 Hammersmith and Fulham: 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 Hammersmith and Fulham

Planning comes first, and in Hammersmith and Fulham the answer turns on the number of occupants. Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits a change from a C3 dwellinghouse to a C4 HMO, which the London Plan glossary defines as housing three to six people. The council says that if 7 or more people live in an HMO, planning permission for the change of use is needed as well as the licence. An Article 4 direction can remove the Class L right at particular addresses, so the owner or their agent checks before buying.

Where permission is needed, Local Plan Policy HO8 (Hostels and Houses in Multiple Occupation) judges a new HMO on accommodation quality, impact on the locality and local need. London Plan Policy H9 adds that HMOs of a reasonable standard should generally be protected. Class L also does not let one house become two or more separate C4 HMOs. For the build, the practical point is that a larger scheme waits for a decision, so we price and programme it once the drawings reflect what was approved rather than what was hoped for.

Housing in Hammersmith and Fulham

Hammersmith and Fulham's housing, as the Council Tax list records it, is about 95,080 homes: 23% houses, 77% flats, with 56% pre-1919, 9% interwar and 34% built since 1945.

Hammersmith and Fulham's three licensing schemes and what they mean

Licensing applies whatever the planning position. Hammersmith and Fulham runs mandatory HMO, additional HMO and selective licensing. The additional scheme is borough wide and was renewed for 5 years from 5 June 2022. It covers a property rented to 3 or 4 people from 2 or more households who share facilities, including converted flats and Section 257 HMOs. A mandatory HMO licence takes over from 5 or more people from 2 or more households, though a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more flats falls outside mandatory licensing. GOV.UK says renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine.

The landlord applies for the licence, and the council can attach conditions to it, which is where the building work comes in. A shared house is easier to license when it is designed to the council's standards from the start rather than patched after an inspection. We work from the licence conditions or the amenity guidance, build the kitchens, bathrooms and fire works to them, and keep the electrical and alarm certificates in one file for the landlord. For an existing HMO, we survey against the same list and price the gaps.

Room sizes, kitchens and bathrooms in a Hammersmith and Fulham HMO

The bedrooms set the numbers in a Hammersmith and Fulham HMO. The council's 2024 HMO amenity guidance says adult bedroom minimums are statutory, with no discretion. Those adult minimums are the national room sizes that are mandatory conditions of every HMO licence in England, one for a room slept in by one adult and a larger one for two. A room that misses the adult minimum cannot be let to an adult, so each bedroom is measured on the drawings before partitions go up. Floor area is taken inside the finished walls, so linings and boxing count against it, and a layout that gives a bedroom to a new bathroom is costed both ways.

The council's 2024 HMO amenity guidance sets what the rooms need. An HMO kitchen must have a worktop of at least 1500 x 600 mm, four 13 amp sockets at worktop level and a fire blanket fixed 1.5m from the floor. A house for 6 to 10 people needs 2 bathrooms and 2 WCs with wash hand basins, one of which can be inside a bathroom. We build the kitchens, bathrooms and fire works to the standard the licence conditions set.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Hammersmith and Fulham HMO

Fire safety is the core of an HMO conversion in Hammersmith and Fulham. The LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised guide for shared houses, and Part B of the building regulations applies to the building work. In practice that means a protected escape route through the hall and stair, fire doors with self-closers to the bedrooms and kitchen, interlinked detection in the rooms and escape routes, and emergency lighting where the layout needs it. The licence conditions confirm the exact standard, and we build to them.

Sound and energy come next. Bedrooms that share a wall or floor with a kitchen or another letting need sound insulation, so we fill stud walls with acoustic insulation and add resilient ceilings where rooms stack. Where the house is let with an EPC, for example to a group on one joint tenancy, it falls under the MEES Regulations, which local authorities enforce, and Hammersmith and Fulham Council uses a compliance notice followed by a financial penalty. Insulation, heating controls and draught stripping go into the programme so a new EPC can follow completion.

• 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
• Shared kitchens enlarged or added for the number of occupants

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 25 statistical areas in Hammersmith and Fulham. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Work in Hammersmith and Fulham rarely sits on its own, so you may also want bathroom renovation in Hammersmith and Fulham, our Hammersmith and Fulham area guide, how building control works in London, what a kitchen fit covers, hmo conversions across London and Central Heating Installation Cost.

Working With GS Renovation in Hammersmith and Fulham

An HMO is judged room by room at inspection, so the build has to be right in the places an officer checks. We read the licence conditions and the council's amenity guidance with you, then give a written quotation and programme for the bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire works. The founder has more than thirty years of hands-on experience. A registered electrician certifies the wiring and alarm circuits, a Gas Safe engineer does any gas work, and the landlord makes the licence application with the certificates in hand.

• Our own trades on site rather than a chain of subcontractors
• Article 4 and licence position checked before a room is priced
• Every bedroom measured against the national minimum room sizes

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