HMO Conversions Lewisham

HMO conversion in Lewisham starts from a tight planning position. Turning a family house into a small HMO has needed planning permission across the whole borough since 19 January 2024, and Policy HO8 only supports a small HMO where the original house had 130 square metres or more of floorspace. Lewisham also runs an Additional HMO licensing scheme for three or four sharers. For a landlord with consent and a licence application in hand, we build the rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and fire protection to those standards.

In Lewisham, 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 Lewisham: 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.

Lewisham's two HMO Article 4 directions and what they cover

Lewisham took away the right to turn a house into a small HMO in two stages. From 7 March 2020 a first Article 4 Direction applied in the Southern Wards, drawn on the old ward boundaries. A second one, taking in every other part of the borough, followed on 19 January 2024. So wherever the house is in Lewisham, moving it from C3 dwellinghouse use to C4 small HMO use is now a planning application, not a permitted change.

Policy HO8 adds a size threshold on top. A small C4 HMO is acceptable in an Article 4 area only when the house as first built had 130 square metres or more of gross internal floorspace, and later rear or roof additions do not count toward it. For a buyer weighing a Lewisham house for shared living, the measured original floor area is the first number to check, before any design work is paid for.

Housing in Lewisham

Of the 133,910 homes the valuation list records in Lewisham, 34% were built before 1919, 18% between the wars and 45% since 1945; 60% are flats and 40% are houses.

Which HMO licence a Lewisham shared house needs

Two HMO licensing regimes can apply in Lewisham. GOV.UK defines a large HMO as one rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household, and that needs a mandatory licence. Lewisham's Additional HMO licensing scheme came into force on Tuesday 5 April 2022 and covers HMOs not captured by the National Mandatory Scheme, including homes where three or four people who are not one household share kitchen, toilet or bathroom facilities.

Mandatory licensing does not reach a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more self-contained flats; where such a flat is shared, it is the council's additional scheme, if any, that applies.

The landlord applies for the licence, and the licence conditions then shape the building work, so we price from the standards that will apply. The stakes are high: GOV.UK says renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine. The use class for planning matters as well as the licence. The London Plan glossary defines HMOs for three to six people as Use Class C4 and HMOs for more than six people as Sui Generis, which always needs planning permission for the use.

Room sizes, kitchens and bathrooms under Lewisham HMO standards

Lewisham's HMO licensing standards set the room sizes the layout has to hit. A single bedroom needs at least 6.51m2 and a double at least 10.22m2, where the house also has a separate kitchen, bathroom and living space. Those match the national mandatory licence conditions, which also bar any room under 4.64m2 from use as a bedroom. In a Lewisham terrace the smallest back bedroom is often the one that fails, so the layout is drawn around the measured rooms before any walls move or a partition splits a large room.

Shared facilities have their own minimums. Lewisham requires shared HMO kitchens of at least 6.51m2 for up to five people and at least 11m2 for up to ten, and at least one fixed bath or shower for every five occupants. That can mean moving the kitchen into the largest ground floor room, adding a shower room on the first floor and planning the drainage for both before the strip out, rather than finding the soil stack in the wrong place later.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Lewisham HMO

Fire safety carries the most weight in an HMO, because unrelated people sleep behind separate locked doors. The work usually covers fire doors with self closers to every bedroom and the kitchen, interlinked smoke and heat detection, a protected escape route down the stair and fire rated ceilings where needed. Part B and the LACORS housing fire safety guidance are the recognised references, and the council's licence conditions set the final list for a Lewisham house.

Sound and energy come next. Lewisham's HMO standards expect a licensed HMO to have an EPC rating of E or better unless an exemption applies, so insulation to the roof and floors, efficient heating and controls are part of the scope rather than extras. Sound insulation between bedrooms and to the rooms below is not a licence requirement in every case, but it reduces complaints between tenants and is far easier to fit while walls and floors are open.

• Existing HMOs upgraded to meet their licence conditions
• Extra shared bathrooms and shower rooms
• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 37 statistical areas in Lewisham. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If this is your first project in Lewisham, these are worth a look: bathroom renovation in Lewisham, our Lewisham area guide, bathroom fitting in London, what a kitchen fit covers, hmo conversions across London and Wet Room Guide.

Trusted HMO Conversions in Lewisham

An HMO conversion has to satisfy planning, licensing and building control at once, and a missed detail in any of them delays the first tenancy. We visit the Lewisham house, measure every room against the licensing standards and give a written quotation and programme built around the consents you hold. Abdelaaziz Saaid, our founder, has more than three decades on site. We coordinate the fire alarm installer, the registered electrician and the plumber, and hand over the certificates a licence inspection asks for.

• A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
• En-suites placed only where a soil stack can serve them
• Sound lining between bedrooms so one sharer does not keep another awake

Reviewed jobs near Lewisham

1 MyBuilder review from Crofton Park, with each customer's own job title:

• Replace small section of wooden worktop, sink, tap and gas hob, Crofton Park, 17 Apr 2024 (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).