HMO Conversions Hendon

An HMO conversion in Hendon turns a family house into a shared house, or brings an existing HMO up to licence standard. Barnet is stricter than the national rule: a borough-wide Article 4 Direction in place since May 2016 means planning permission is needed for all future HMOs, including the three to six person C4 homes that are permitted development elsewhere. Licensing is a separate step. We build the rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire protection that the permission and licence require.

In Hendon, 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 Hendon: 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.

Why every new HMO in Hendon goes through planning

Nationally, Class L of the permitted development order lets a C3 dwellinghouse become a C4 house in multiple occupation without an application. Barnet has removed that right across the borough. The Planning Data record gives its Article 4 direction on small HMOs a start date of 29 May 2016, and the council records that planning permission must be sought for all future HMOs. A Hendon landlord therefore needs permission even for a modest shared house of three to six people.

Larger houses were never covered by the national right. The London Plan glossary classes an HMO for more than six people as sui generis, which always needs planning permission, and Class L does not allow one house to become two or more separate C4 HMOs. The London Plan also says HMOs of a reasonable standard should generally be protected, which matters if the Hendon house is already one. Barnet says it will take enforcement action against unauthorised and illegal HMOs, so building starts only once permission is granted.

Housing in Hendon

Hendon has around 16,060 homes on the Council Tax list: 43% post-war, 37% interwar and 20% predate 1919, with 62% flats and 38% houses.

HMO licensing and the Barnet register for Hendon landlords

A licence is separate from planning, and a Hendon HMO can need both. GOV.UK defines an HMO as a property rented by at least 3 people who are not one household but share facilities such as the kitchen or bathroom. A large HMO, rented to 5 or more people forming more than 1 household, needs a mandatory licence, though a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more flats falls outside that scheme. GOV.UK adds that a smaller HMO may still need one depending on the council area, so ask Barnet Council whether any further scheme covers the address.

Barnet Council keeps the public register of licensed HMOs that section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 requires, and updates it monthly. Renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine. The landlord applies for the licence, and we build to the conditions it sets, from room sizes and kitchen and bathroom provision to fire doors and alarms. We keep the certificates and drawings together, so the licence file reflects what was actually built in the Hendon house.

Room sizes, kitchens and bathrooms in a Hendon HMO

Room sizes in an HMO are set by licence conditions rather than by the London standards for self-contained flats. Since 1 October 2018 a mandatory licence in England requires at least 6.51 square metres for a room slept in by one adult and 10.22 square metres for two, and no room under 4.64 square metres may be used for sleeping. In a Hendon semi-detached or detached house, the small front bedroom over the hall is the room to measure first.

Kitchens and bathrooms scale with the number of occupants, so the room count and the amenities are designed together. A house let to five or six sharers needs more cooking, sink and storage provision than a family would use, and typically a second bathroom or a separate WC, to whatever amenity standard the council sets. Where the permission and licence allow en-suites, each one adds a waste run to plan against the joists and the soil stack, and in an interwar Hendon house those runs are settled before first fix.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Hendon HMO conversion

Fire safety is the heart of the build. Part B of the building regulations, any fire standards the council sets for HMOs and the LACORS housing fire safety guidance, the recognised guide, together decide the specification. That means fire doors with self-closers to each letting room and the kitchen, a protected escape route along the hall and stair, interlinked detection and alarms, and emergency lighting where the layout calls for it. In a Hendon house with one timber stair, protecting that route shapes everything else.

Sound and energy follow. Sharers keep different hours, so walls and floors between letting rooms benefit from acoustic insulation, and the kitchen is best kept away from bedrooms. The whole house also has to meet the minimum energy standard for lettings: since 1 April 2020 a property rated below E under the MEES Regulations cannot be let, or go on being let, without a valid exemption. Insulation, heating controls and glazing go into the Hendon programme before decoration, and an energy assessor rates the finished building.

• Thumb-turn bedroom locks that open from inside without a key
• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Interlinked smoke and heat alarms, mains-wired and graded to the council's HMO fire guidance

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Hendon Central, Hendon Park, North Hendon & Sunny Hill and West Hendon. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Two or three things usually come up alongside hmo conversions on a Hendon job: bathroom renovation in Hendon, hmo conversions across Barnet, how building control works in London, what a snagging list covers, how we handle hmo conversions across London and Small Bathroom Ideas.

The GS Renovation Difference in Hendon

An HMO in Hendon has to satisfy the planning permission, the licence conditions and the building regulations at once, and all three meet in the same walls and doors. We build from the approved drawings, fit the fire doors, detection and escape route to the specification, and size the kitchens and bathrooms to the occupancy the licence allows. A registered electrician certifies the installation, including the alarm wiring. We gather the certificates the licensing officer will ask for, so the landlord's application is backed by what is on site.

• Paperwork and certificates handed over for when you sell
• EPC upgrades done while the walls and floors are still open
• Kitchens and bathrooms counted against the council's amenity standard

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