HMO Conversions Highbury

HMO conversion in Highbury is governed more by licensing than by planning. A family house here can become a shared house for up to six people without a planning application, on Islington's own statement, yet an Islington licence is needed once 3 or 4 unrelated people from 2 or more households share. On the VOA count 79% of Highbury homes are flats, and Islington's licensing covers shared flats as well as houses. We build the rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire protection a landlord needs to meet Islington's HMO standards.

In Highbury, 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 Highbury: 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 Highbury HMO: small, large and lost

The planning question in Highbury turns on head count. Nationally, Class L permitted development lets a house change from Class C3 to Class C4, and the London Plan treats HMOs for three to six people as C4 and larger ones as sui generis. Islington states that, for now, it places no planning restriction on a family house becoming a shared home for six people or fewer. Seven or more sharers take the HMO out of C4 and into planning permission territory.

If the building is listed, the works themselves are a separate question: anything that affects its character, inside or out, needs listed building consent from Islington Council, and carrying it out without consent is a criminal offence.

Two further policies shape a Highbury scheme. Islington Policy H10 supports new small HMOs where they do not cause significant harm to the amenity of the neighbourhood, and resists losing good quality HMOs unless the replacement meets an acute housing need. Class L also does not allow one former house to become two separate C4 HMOs. So splitting a Highbury terrace into two shared houses is a planning application, not a permitted change.

Housing in Highbury

The stock in Highbury runs to roughly 7,960 dwellings, 79% of them flats and 21% houses, built 55% before 1919, 4% between 1919 and 1939 and 37% after 1945.

Which Islington licence a Highbury shared house needs

A shared house or flat in Highbury needs one of Islington's HMO licences. The mandatory scheme applies from 5 unrelated people in 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Additional licensing covers 3 or 4 such people, and also flats let that way in a purpose-built block that mandatory licensing misses. The landlord or their agent applies; we build to the conditions the licence sets, and to the numbers of occupants it names.

Selective licensing is a separate scheme and does not bite here. Islington's 2026 selective designation covers Highbury ward but excludes HMOs, so a shared house needs an HMO licence instead. Additional licensing also reaches converted houses of self-contained flats that fall short of the Building Regulations 1991 where one owner lets them all, known as section 257 HMOs. Letting unlicensed can bring a Rent Repayment Order for up to 24 months of rent.

Room sizes, kitchens and bathrooms in a Highbury HMO

Islington's HMO standards set the layout of a Highbury shared house before any finishes are chosen. Where the kitchen is shared in its own room, a single bedroom needs 8 square metres and a double needs 11. Those sit above the national licence minimums of 6.51 square metres for one adult, 10.22 for two and no sleeping room under 4.64. The shared kitchen itself grows with the household: 5.5 square metres serves up to 3 people, while 6 or 7 sharers need 9.5. Every 5 residents sharing need their own kitchen, which in a larger Highbury house can mean a second one.

Height and bathrooms catch out older houses. The standards also want 2.1m of headroom over at least half of each room's floor, which can rule out some Highbury attic and back addition rooms as bedrooms. Bathrooms and WCs need a clear 700mm by 700mm space outside the bath or shower for drying and changing. We set out the rooms on site against these figures, with you, before any new partitions go up.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Highbury shared house

Fire safety is often the heaviest part of HMO works in a Highbury terrace. The escape route through the hall and stair is protected with fire resisting doors on self-closers, the walls and ceilings around it are upgraded where needed, and a linked detection and alarm system covers every room and the hall. LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised national guide, and Part B applies where building work is done.

Sound and energy come next for a Highbury landlord. Sound insulation between bedrooms and under the floors of a timber house reduces complaints between sharers. GOV.UK says that since 1 April 2018 private landlords cannot let on new tenancies with an EPC rating of F or G unless an exemption applies, and since 1 April 2020 the E minimum has applied to existing tenancies too. Islington also offers a licence fee discount where the property is rated A, B or C, so insulation and heating upgrades pay twice.

• Hard-wearing floors, finishes and decoration for a let house
• Electrics extended to every bedroom, certified by a registered electrician
• Snagging before the council's licence inspection

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Highbury and Highbury Fields. Counts rounded by the VOA.

For the wider picture around hmo conversions in Highbury, see bathroom renovation in Highbury, hmo conversions across Islington, what a main building contractor does, how snagging works at handover, our London hmo conversions page and Kitchen Renovation Cost.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Highbury

A Highbury HMO is built to a licence as well as a drawing, so GS starts by measuring the rooms against Islington's figures before pricing. We set out bedrooms and kitchens against Islington's standards, fit the fire doors and escape routes in the right order, bring in registered electricians to certify the alarms and wiring, and hand over the certificates your licence application needs.

• Founder with 30+ years of hands-on experience
• En-suites placed only where a soil stack can serve them
• EPC upgrades done while the walls and floors are still open

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