HMO Conversions Newham

An HMO conversion in Newham is controlled at every step. Turning a family home into a small HMO has needed planning permission since the borough's Article 4 Direction came into force on 31st July 2013, and Policy H3 of the 2018 Local Plan wants HMOs formed from buildings other than family-sized homes. That makes upgrading an existing, lawful HMO in Newham to the council's licence standards the more realistic job: room sizes, kitchens, fire doors, alarms and escape routes.

In Newham, 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 Newham: 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 Newham HMO: Article 4 and Policy H3

A new HMO in a Newham family house needs planning permission, whatever its size. Nationally, Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 lets a Class C3 house become a Class C4 HMO without an application. Newham removed that right: the council confirmed an Article 4 Direction on 10 June 2013, and it took effect on 31st July 2013. HMOs for three to six people are Class C4, and those for more than six are sui generis, which always needs permission.

Policy is then against the most common starting point. Under Policy H3 of Newham's 2018 Local Plan, HMOs of any size are meant to be purpose-built, or made from buildings that were never family-sized homes. The London Plan asks boroughs to weigh the strategic importance of HMOs and to protect those of a reasonable standard. In practice that means an existing lawful HMO in Newham is worth upgrading, while a new one in a family house faces a hard case. The owner's planning adviser tests that before we price.

Housing in Newham

Newham has around 132,650 homes on the Council Tax list: 58% post-war, 5% interwar and 37% predate 1919, with 59% flats and 41% houses.

Newham's mandatory and additional HMO licences

While the current schemes run, an HMO in Newham will almost always need a licence, so the building work is planned around the licence conditions from the start. A mandatory HMO licence is needed once five or more people forming two or more households share. Below that, Newham has run an additional HMO licensing scheme since 1 January 2023 for three or four sharers from two or more households. It applies in all wards apart from Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park. A flat in a purpose-built block of three or more flats falls outside mandatory licensing, so the landlord checks which scheme covers it.

The landlord applies for the licence, and the council then sets conditions on the property. We build to those conditions and to the standards the council publishes, and give the landlord the certificates, as-built records and programme the application needs. Newham can impose a financial penalty, or a court can set an unlimited fine, where a licensable property is let unlicensed, so the upgrade is usually timed to finish before the licence inspection rather than after it.

Room sizes and shared kitchens in a licensed Newham HMO

Newham's accommodation standards fix the sizes we set out to, and a wall in the wrong place can cost a licensed room. Nobody should sleep in a room smaller than 4.64 square metres, and the national licence conditions require 6.51 square metres for one person over 10 and 10.22 for two people over 10. For a bedsit or studio room with its own cooking facilities, a room of 13 sqm to 17.99 sqm is for one person, and two people need at least 18 sqm.

A shared kitchen grows with the household, from at least 5.5 sq m where up to 3 share it to 7.5 sq m at 4 to 5 sharers. It then rises to 9.5 sq m at 6 to 7, and 11.5 sq m at 8 to 10. Every newly converted kitchen also gets mechanical extraction, whether or not it has a window that opens. We measure each room on the survey, check it against the standard before the layout is fixed, and set out partitions to the finished dimension, not the stud line.

Fire doors, alarms and escape in a Newham HMO

Fire safety is often the largest part of an HMO upgrade in Newham. The stair usually becomes a protected escape route, with fire-resisting doors and self-closers to each bedroom and the kitchen, fire-stopped openings around pipes and cables, and an interlinked fire detection and alarm system to the level the risk needs. LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised guide councils use, alongside building regulations Part B where building work is done.

Bedrooms that share a wall with another letting, or sit over the kitchen, benefit from sound insulation in the wall or floor. Where the letting needs an EPC, for example a whole-house tenancy to a group of sharers, it must meet the minimum energy standard: since 1 April 2020 it cannot be let below E without a valid exemption. Newham enforces with a financial penalty notice per property. A house let room by room generally needs no EPC. We sequence fire, sound and energy works together so walls are opened once.

• Emergency lighting on the escape route where the house needs it
• En-suite shower rooms added to bedrooms
• Extra shared bathrooms and shower rooms

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 40 statistical areas in Newham. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Work in Newham rarely sits on its own, so you may also want bathroom renovation in Newham, our Newham area guide, how building control works in London, what a snagging list covers, how we handle hmo conversions across London and Getting Planning Permission.

Trusted HMO Conversions in Newham

We upgrade and convert HMOs to the standard the licence sets, working from the conditions and drawings your agent provides. Room set out, kitchens, fire doors, alarms, fire stopping and sound work follow one sequence, with building control involved where the work needs it and electrics and gas certified by the registered trades. You get a written programme timed around the licence inspection, one contact, and the certificates and records your licence application needs.

• EPC upgrades done while the walls and floors are still open
• Materials priced at options, so you choose the finish
• 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).