HMO Conversions Wimbledon

HMO conversion in Wimbledon starts with planning, not building. Merton has removed the permitted development right to turn a family home into a small HMO across the whole borough, and the immediate Article 4 Direction covering Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Town wards started on 24 March 2026. Licensing then sets the standard: room sizes, kitchens, bathrooms and fire safety. The landlord or their agent secures the planning permission and the licence, and we build the rooms, amenities and fire protection to both.

In Wimbledon, 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 Wimbledon: 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.

HMO Article 4 in Wimbledon and when planning applies

Turning a Wimbledon house into a small HMO now needs planning permission. Class L would normally let a single house become a C4 HMO without an application, and even then never as two or more separate HMOs. Merton has taken that right away borough-wide for small HMOs. The first immediate direction covered seven wards from 17 November 2022, and the second, covering 13 wards with Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Town among them, started on 24 March 2026, and Merton's Article 4 page gives the current position.

A shared house for more than six people is sui generis under the London Plan glossary, so it needs planning permission whatever the Article 4 position. The London Plan also asks boroughs to weigh the strategic as well as local importance of HMOs when they consider these directions, and says HMOs of a reasonable standard should generally be protected. So the application is about the standard of the house as much as the principle, and the drawings need to show the rooms and amenities.

Housing in Wimbledon

The stock in Wimbledon runs to roughly 25,760 dwellings, 51% of them flats and 49% houses, built 52% before 1919, 10% between 1919 and 1939 and 38% after 1945.

Which licence a Wimbledon HMO needs from Merton

Licensing sets the standard a Wimbledon HMO is built to. A house with 5 or more occupants from more than one household falls under Merton's mandatory licence, unless it is a purpose-built flat in a block of 3 or more. GOV.UK adds that a smaller HMO may still need a licence depending on the council area, and that renting out an unlicensed HMO can lead to an unlimited fine. The licence comes before the tenants.

In Merton the smaller houses are the ones to check. Merton's Cabinet agreed that selective and additional landlord licensing would come into effect in September 2023, so a three or four person house in Wimbledon may need a licence too. The landlord applies, and the licence conditions become the specification. We build to those conditions and hand back a room schedule with measured areas that matches the application and the licence file.

Room sizes and amenities in a Merton HMO

Every letting room in a Wimbledon HMO has a minimum size, and Merton's figures match the national minimum room sizes that are mandatory licence conditions in England. Merton's standards are 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, 10.22 square metres for two people over 10 and 4.64 square metres for a child under 10. A room smaller than 4.64 square metres cannot be a bedroom, and only floor space with a ceiling higher than 1.5 metres counts, which matters in a top floor room under a sloping roof.

Shared facilities are counted per person. Merton's amenity standards cap a shared kitchen at 5 users, with at least 2m2 of kitchen per person and a worktop for every three people sharing it. For 6 to 10 occupants the house needs at least 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets, one toilet separate with a wash hand basin. A room let with its own cooking and washing facilities must be 13m2 or more for one person and 20.5m2 for two.

Fire safety, sound and energy in a Wimbledon shared house

Fire protection is the heaviest part of the build in a Wimbledon HMO. The escape route through the hall and stair is protected, bedroom doors become fire doors with self-closers, and an interlinked detection and alarm system covers the rooms, hall and kitchen to the grade the licence asks for. LACORS housing fire safety guidance is the recognised reference, and Part B applies to any new construction such as a new stair enclosure.

Sound between lettings matters in a Victorian Wimbledon terrace with timber floors, so we fill the floor void with acoustic insulation and fit a resilient ceiling where one letting room sits over another. The house must also meet MEES: since 1 April 2020 landlords cannot let with an EPC rating below E without a valid exemption. Going the other way, Merton Policy H11.5 resists development that results in the net loss of HMOs and bedsits unless set conditions are met.

• Hot water sized for several sharers showering at once, with any gas work by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Insulation and heating upgrades toward the minimum EPC for letting
• Hard-wearing floors, finishes and decoration for a let house

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 7 statistical areas in Wimbledon. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If you are weighing up hmo conversions in Wimbledon, it may help to read bathroom renovation in Wimbledon, hmo conversions across Merton, bathroom fitting in London, what a kitchen fit covers, hmo conversions across London and Small Bathroom Ideas.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Wimbledon

You get a builder who works from the licence conditions and the planning drawings, room by room. We measure every letting room against Merton's standards before partitions go up, plan the kitchens and bathrooms to the occupant numbers, and install the fire doors, detection and escape protection the licence asks for. A registered electrician certifies the alarm and wiring, and we hand over the certificates and a room schedule for the licence file. Planning and licensing stay with you or your agent.

• Fire doors, closers and seals fitted to every door on the escape route
• Building control applications and inspections coordinated for you
• Every bedroom measured against the national minimum room sizes

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