HMO Conversions Tower Hamlets

HMO conversion in Tower Hamlets is tightly controlled. An Article 4 direction has required planning permission for a house to become a small HMO since 1 January 2021, and the Local Plan resists shared accommodation that loses family housing. So the HMO work that realistically arises here is as likely to be upgrading existing shared houses and flats to the conditions of the borough-wide additional licensing scheme as creating new ones.

In Tower Hamlets, 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 Tower Hamlets: 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 new HMO under the Tower Hamlets Article 4 direction

Turning a house into a small HMO in Tower Hamlets needs planning permission. National rules under Class L allow a C3 house to become a C4 HMO without an application. The Tower Hamlets Article 4 direction taking that right away was approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on 29 January 2020 and came into force on 1 January 2021. A larger HMO for more than six people is sui generis under the London Plan glossary, and needs permission anywhere.

The policy test is demanding. Local Plan wording says conversion to hostels or other shared accommodation, including homes for multiple occupation, will be resisted. Under Policy D.H7 a new HMO has to meet an identified need and must not lose existing larger family housing, among other criteria. That makes the planning case the investor's first task, with their agent or designer, before building work is priced. Class L also never allows one house to become two or more separate C4 HMOs.

Housing in Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets' housing, as the Council Tax list records it, is about 149,830 homes: 10% houses, 90% flats, with 12% pre-1919, 4% interwar and 83% built since 1945.

Which Tower Hamlets lettings need an HMO licence

Licensing in Tower Hamlets reaches further than the national rules. A large HMO, which GOV.UK describes as rented to 5 or more people forming more than 1 household, needs a mandatory licence everywhere. On top of that, the Mayor in Cabinet made the whole borough an additional licensing area on 25 October 2023, with enforcement from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2029 unless revoked earlier. It catches privately let homes with three or more people in two or more households, whatever the number of storeys.

In purpose built blocks of three or more flats, a flat let to five or more tenants in two or more households is caught as well. The landlord applies for the licence, and the council says processing volumes mean applications are currently taking up to 12 months. Letting an HMO without the licence it needs risks an unlimited fine, so the building work is timed so the property meets the conditions when the licence is assessed.

Tower Hamlets room sizes and amenity standards for shared houses

The Tower Hamlets HMO amenity and room size standards, adopted by Cabinet in October 2018, go further than the national minimums. Those have been mandatory licence conditions since 2018: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, 10.22 for two people over 10, and no sleeping room under 4.64, all measured on usable floor area. One sharer needs a bedroom of 8.5m2 or more, rising to 13m2 if the room includes a kitchen, and two sharers need 13m2, rising to 18m2 with a kitchen. The council refuses any room smaller than 6.5m2 as a bedroom, and a room for one person over 10 can never fall below the national 6.51. These figures, not the smaller national ones, are what a licensing officer measures in a Tower Hamlets house, so the room layout is fixed against them before any stud wall goes up.

The layout follows from those numbers. Kitchen facilities should be no more than one floor from each letting, so in a taller house the kitchen's floor decides whether a second kitchen or kitchenettes in rooms are needed. A new conversion also needs a mechanical extractor on top of any window that opens. We set out partitions from the approved layout, check each room's finished size against the standard, and plan kitchens and bathrooms before first fix.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Tower Hamlets HMO

Fire safety is the core of any HMO build in Tower Hamlets. The escape route through the hall and stair is protected with fire-resisting construction, each letting room gets a fire door with a self-closer, and an interlinked fire detection and alarm system covers rooms, kitchens and the escape route. Licensing officers work from the LACORS housing fire safety guidance, alongside Part B of the building regulations for the building work.

Sound and energy come next. Walls and floors between lettings carry the noise of several households, so we add insulation and resilient layers where the licence conditions or the tenants' comfort call for it. Where the letting needs an EPC, such as a whole-house tenancy to a group, the MEES Regulations have since 1 April 2020 barred letting it below E unless an exemption is registered. A house let room by room generally needs none. Insulation, heating controls and draughtproofing are planned into the same programme.

• Thumb-turn bedroom locks that open from inside without a key
• Snagging before the council's licence inspection
• Sound lining to bedroom walls and party walls

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 34 statistical areas in Tower Hamlets. Counts rounded by the VOA.

For the wider picture around hmo conversions in Tower Hamlets, see bathroom renovation in Tower Hamlets, our Tower Hamlets area guide, what a main building contractor does, what a kitchen fit covers, hmo conversions across London and Getting Planning Permission.

Trusted HMO Conversions in Tower Hamlets

An HMO in Tower Hamlets has to pass planning, licensing and building control, and each has its own conditions for the same rooms. GS Renovation Ltd is a founder-led builder based in Potters Bar, and Abdelaaziz Saaid, its founder, has more than three decades of hands-on experience. The landlord or their agent deals with planning and the licence. We build to the approved layout and the licence conditions, give you a written quotation and programme, and hand over the fire alarm, electrical and gas certificates the licence application needs.

• Free follow-up visit after completion if anything needs attention
• Kitchens and bathrooms counted against the council's amenity standard
• Fire doors, closers and seals fitted to every door on the escape route

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