HMO Conversions Harrow

HMO conversions in Harrow changed in June 2026. The council's immediate Article 4 Direction on small HMOs applies to the whole borough, so any new small HMO created on or after 12 June 2026 needs planning permission, and Policy HO10 limits where HMOs are permitted at all. We work for landlords and investors who hold, or are seeking, the consents: building the bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire protection to Harrow's standards for HMOs, or upgrading an existing HMO to meet its licence conditions.

In Harrow, 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 Harrow: 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.

Harrow's small HMO Article 4 Direction from June 2026

Turning a Harrow house into a small shared house now needs planning permission. The council's immediate Article 4 Direction on small HMOs applies to the whole borough, and any new small HMO created on or after 12 June 2026 requires permission. Without the direction, Class L of the permitted development order would allow a change from a C3 dwellinghouse to a C4 HMO with no application at all. So the date the shared use begins is what counts.

Harrow is consulting on making the direction permanent and must decide whether to confirm it by 11 December 2026. For an owner that means the planning position should be settled, by the owner or their agent, before layouts are fixed or rooms are advertised. An HMO for more than six people is sui generis under the London Plan glossary and needed planning permission before the direction too. Class L never allowed one house to become two or more separate C4 HMOs either.

Housing in Harrow

For Harrow the Council Tax list gives about 96,870 homes; by type 38% flats and 62% houses, by age 38% post-war, 52% interwar and 10% older than 1919.

Where Policy HO10 permits an HMO in Harrow

Harrow Policy HO10 only permits HMOs where the dwelling's original internal floor area exceeds 130m2 and the site has a PTAL rating of 4 to 6. That rules out a smaller semi and a house away from good public transport, whatever the room count. The floor area test uses the house as originally built, so a later extension does not help it pass. The owner's agent checks the PTAL score for the address before any design work.

The policy also looks at the street. HO10 treats three or more HMOs among the nearest ten properties as an over concentration, so a house in a road that already has several shared houses may be refused even if it passes on size. The London Plan asks boroughs to protect HMOs of a reasonable standard as part of the housing supply, which is why an existing, well-run Harrow HMO can be worth upgrading rather than converting back.

Harrow HMO licensing: mandatory and additional

A large HMO, rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household, needs a mandatory licence anywhere in England, unless it is a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more flats. Harrow's additional licensing scheme reached further, covering smaller HMOs of three or more people in two or more households. That borough-wide designation came into force on 6 August 2021 and was due to cease to have effect on 5 August 2026 unless extended. Harrow consulted from 19 December 2025 to 27 February 2026 on renewing it for a further five years, so check the current position.

Licensing and planning are now linked in Harrow. For a new HMO licence applied for on or after 12 June 2026 for up to 6 occupiers, Harrow requires planning permission, and where it has not been obtained the council may grant a shorter licence of up to one year. Renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine. The landlord applies for the licence; we build to the standards and conditions it sets.

Room sizes, kitchens and fire safety in a Harrow HMO

Harrow's HMO conditions set the layout. A room used for sleeping by one person over 10 must be at least 6.51 square metres, the same minimum a mandatory licence imposes nationally. The national conditions also set 10.22 square metres for two, and bar any room under 4.64 from use for sleeping. En-suites are excluded from that measurement, and at most 5 people may share one set of facilities such as a kitchen. Ceiling height must be at least 1.9m over at least half the floor, and floor where the ceiling is under 1.5m does not count, which can rule out a room under a sloping roof. A sixth tenant usually means a second kitchen.

Fire safety is the other half of the build in a Harrow HMO. Bedrooms open onto a protected escape route with fire doors and self-closers, the stair enclosure is fire separated, and an interlinked detection and alarm system covers the rooms and circulation. Building regulations Part B, the council's standards and the LACORS housing fire safety guide set the level. Sound insulation between bedrooms and, where the letting needs an EPC, a rating of at least E under the MEES rules finish the job before the first tenancy.

• Small HMO conversions for three to six sharers
• Insulation and heating upgrades toward the minimum EPC for letting
• Hard-wearing floors, finishes and decoration for a let house

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

Alongside hmo conversions in Harrow, the pages that usually help next are bathroom renovation in Harrow, our Harrow area guide, bathroom fitting in London, what a kitchen fit covers, hmo conversions anywhere in London and Central Heating Installation Cost.

The GS Renovation Difference in Harrow

An HMO has to satisfy planning, the licence and building regulations at once, so we start from the consent and the licence conditions together. We then programme strip-out, new partitions and doors, the escape route and alarm system, kitchens and bathrooms sized to the occupancy, and finishes. A registered electrician certifies the wiring and alarm circuits, and an engineer on the Gas Safe Register does gas work. You receive the certificates the licence application needs.

• Straight advice on what is and is not worth spending money on
• EPC upgrades done while the walls and floors are still open
• Detection laid out to the grade the council's HMO fire guidance sets

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