HMO Conversions Paddington

HMO conversion in Paddington is mostly about licensing, because Westminster licenses shared housing across the whole city. Its renewed Additional HMO Licensing Scheme came into effect on 31 August 2026, so a shared flat or house here needs a licence once three or more people from two or more households share a kitchen or bathroom. With 92% of homes flats across the VOA area that includes Paddington, St George's Fields and Bayswater East, the likely project is a shared flat or a converted townhouse brought up to Westminster's HMO standards: room sizes, kitchens, bathrooms and fire safety.

In Paddington, 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 Paddington: 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 Paddington house in multiple occupation

Start with the use class, because planning decides whether the HMO can exist at all. Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 allows a house in Class C3 to become a small HMO in Class C4, which the London Plan defines as three to six people. More than six sharers is sui generis and needs planning permission. Class L also does not let one Paddington house become two or more separate C4 HMOs.

Two cautions apply. An Article 4 direction can remove the Class L right, and the London Plan asks boroughs weighing such directions to consider the strategic importance of HMOs, so your agent should check the current Westminster position before you buy. And a Paddington flat in a block is governed by a lease that may restrict sharing, so the freeholder's consent may matter as much as the planning position. We start work once both are settled.

Housing in Paddington

Paddington counts roughly 11,790 homes for Council Tax; 47% are older than 1919, 11% interwar and 42% post-war, with 92% flats and 8% houses.

Westminster's licensing schemes and what they mean in Paddington

Westminster administers both mandatory and additional HMO licensing in Paddington. A large HMO, rented to five or more people forming more than one household, needs a mandatory licence. Westminster's first borough-wide additional scheme began on 30 August 2021, and the renewed scheme, designated on 21 April 2026, runs from 31 August 2026 to 30 August 2031. It covers flat shares, bedsits and some converted flats that sit outside the mandatory scheme.

One exception matters here: a flat in a purpose-built block of three or more self-contained flats falls outside mandatory licensing, although a council's additional scheme can still cover it.

Renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine, so the licence comes before the tenants. The landlord or agent applies, and Westminster can attach works conditions to a licence to bring the property up to its standards. For a Paddington landlord the useful order is to read the relevant standard, agree a layout that meets it, then let us build it, rather than applying first and meeting a schedule of works afterwards.

Room sizes and kitchens under Westminster's HMO standards

Bedroom size is the first test for any Paddington HMO layout. The national minimum room sizes are mandatory licence conditions: 6.51 square metres for one adult, 10.22 for two, and no sleeping room under 4.64. Westminster says it has a legal duty to act where they are breached, allowing an 18-month period to put it right. Its shared house and flat standard allows no more than two people to sleep in one bedroom, counting a child as a person. We measure every room before a layout is agreed.

The kitchen is the second test. Westminster's shared house and flat standard says a kitchen must be no smaller than 5.5 square metres and arranged for safe access and use. Its four sets of HMO standards, updated in April 2021, cover the different types of shared property. In a Paddington flat share the kitchen can be the room that has to grow, which can cost a bedroom, so we fix its size before anything else.

Fire safety in a converted Paddington building

Fire protection is the heaviest part of HMO works, and older converted townhouses in Paddington need careful attention. Westminster treats a building fully converted into self-contained flats as an HMO when the conversion does not fully meet the 1991 Building Regulations and fewer than two thirds of the flats are held by long leaseholders. Such a building then falls under the HMO standards even though every flat has its own front door.

For those buildings Westminster's self-contained flat standard takes 60 minutes fire resistance as the building regulations benchmark, but accepts 30 minutes in most existing conversions with appropriate automatic fire detection. The work is fire doors with self closers onto the stair, a linked detection and alarm system, protected escape routes and fire stopping, following the LACORS housing fire safety guidance as the recognised guide. Sound insulation between lettings and a compliant EPC complete a Paddington licence-ready scheme.

• Service holes sealed so each bedroom and the kitchen stay separate fire compartments
• Separate WCs and wash basins to the amenity standard
• Snagging before the council's licence inspection

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Paddington & St George's Fields and Bayswater East. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Alongside hmo conversions in Paddington, the pages that usually help next are bathroom renovation in Paddington, hmo conversions across Westminster, bathroom fitting in London, kitchen fitting in London, hmo conversions across London and Wet Room Guide.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Paddington

An HMO in Paddington is judged by a licensing officer against written standards, so the building work has to answer those standards line by line. We read the licence conditions or Westminster's standard with you, check every room size before layout, and build the kitchens, bathrooms, fire doors and alarm system to the agreed plan. The alarm engineer, registered electrician and registered gas engineer hand over their certificates so your licence application has what it needs.

• En-suites placed only where a soil stack can serve them
• Fire doors, closers and seals fitted to every door on the escape route
• Our own trades on site rather than a chain of subcontractors

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