HMO Conversions Old Street

HMO conversion in Old Street is mainly a flat job, because 99% of homes here are flats. The work is fitting out a flat, or one of the few terraced houses, for unrelated sharers, or upgrading an existing shared let to meet Islington's licence standards. Islington's stated position is that a family home shared by six or fewer people, sharing facilities, faces no planning restriction at present, so licensing, room sizes and fire safety shape the job more than planning does.

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.

In Old Street, 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 Old Street: 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 an HMO in Old Street: what applies and what does not

For a small shared let in Old Street, planning is rarely the obstacle. Under Class L of the 2015 permitted development order, a C3 home may become a C4 shared house without an application. Islington adds that, for now, it places no planning restriction on a family home used as an HMO by under seven sharers. On that basis, a shared house or flat for three to six people needs no planning application, though a lease can still forbid multiple occupation or letting by the room.

Larger schemes are different. In the London Plan glossary, a shared house for three to six people is Use Class C4, and one for more than six is Sui Generis; Islington requires planning permission once seven or more people live there. Nor can Class L be used to turn one house into two separate C4 HMOs. Islington Policy H10 backs new small HMOs where neighbours' amenity is not badly harmed, and resists losing good ones unless an acute housing need replaces them. An Old Street owner with a large scheme should take planning advice first.

Housing in Old Street

The stock in Old Street runs to roughly 6,800 dwellings, 99% of them flats and 1% houses, built 16% before 1919, 5% between 1919 and 1939 and 76% after 1945.

Islington's HMO licensing schemes and Old Street flats

Licensing, not planning, is the main hurdle for an Old Street HMO. A mandatory licence is needed in Islington once 5 or more unrelated people, forming 2 or more households, share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet in any house or flat. Below that, additional licensing picks up 3 or 4 sharers from 2 or more households. That additional scheme expressly extends to a flat in a purpose-built block let to 3 or 4 sharers, which matters where 99% of homes are flats.

Additional licensing also reaches older converted buildings. A block of self-contained flats formed by a conversion that falls short of the Building Regulations 1991, with every flat let by one owner, counts as an S257 HMO and is licensable. A landlord owning a whole converted building near Old Street may therefore need a licence without any room being shared. Islington's selective scheme, by contrast, covers single households only in Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington wards. The landlord applies for the licence, and we build or upgrade the property to the standards it is judged against.

Room, kitchen and bathroom standards for an Old Street HMO

The layout of an Old Street HMO is drawn against Islington's HMO standards before anything is built. With cooking done in a separate shared kitchen, a bedroom for one needs 8 square metres and a bedroom for two needs 11. The shared kitchen grows with the household: 5.5 square metres serves up to 3 people, 7.5 serves up to 5, 9.5 serves up to 7 and 11.5 serves 8 to 10. Every 5 sharers need their own kitchen. The national minimum bedroom sizes set as mandatory licence conditions sit below Islington's figures, so the council's standard governs the layout.

Height and bathrooms catch out compact flats. Islington wants at least 50% of each room's floor under a ceiling of 2.1m or more, and a clear 700mm by 700mm space beside every bath or shower, and in each WC, for drying and changing. In a modern flat near Old Street that can mean one bedroom becomes the shared kitchen or a second bathroom. We test the plan against every standard before pricing, and flag any room that cannot be let as a bedroom so the rent and layout are decided together.

Fire safety, sound and energy in an Old Street HMO

In an Old Street HMO, fire protection takes the largest share of the build. An HMO needs fire doors to bedrooms and kitchens, linked smoke and heat detection and a protected escape route, designed to building regulations Part B, the council's HMO fire standards and the LACORS housing fire safety guidance, which is the recognised guide. In an Old Street flat inside a larger block, the entrance door and common parts belong to the freeholder, so the work inside is coordinated with the building's fire strategy. Sound insulation between bedrooms, especially where a living room becomes a let room, reduces friction between sharers.

Energy rules and penalties close the job. Since 1 April 2020, GOV.UK says, a property under the MEES Regulations rated below E can no longer be let, or continue to be let, without a valid exemption. Islington trims the licence fee for a home rated A, B or C. Letting a licensable HMO with no licence risks an unlimited fine, and a Rent Repayment Order can claw back as much as 24 months of rent. We hand over the alarm, emergency lighting, electrical and gas certificates the Old Street licence application needs.

• Sound lining to bedroom walls and party walls
• Separate WCs and wash basins to the amenity standard
• Existing HMOs upgraded to meet their licence conditions

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Old Street & St Luke's. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Before committing to hmo conversions in Old Street, it is worth looking at bathroom renovation in Old Street, hmo conversions across Islington, what a main building contractor does, kitchen fitting in London, hmo conversions anywhere in London and Central Heating Installation Cost.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Old Street

An HMO in Old Street is judged by a licensing officer against written standards, so the build is measured against them from the first drawing. We visit, check the room, kitchen and bathroom sizes against Islington's standards, and give a written quotation with a programme that fits your void period. One site team builds the fire protection, bathrooms and kitchens, registered trades certify the electrics, alarms and gas, and you receive the certificates your licence application relies on. The landlord makes the application itself.

• Founder with 30+ years of hands-on experience
• Finished and snagged before the council's licence inspection
• Sound lining between bedrooms so one sharer does not keep another awake

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