What the drawings are for
An HMO conversion has three audiences: the planning officer, building control and the licensing team. Each wants the same house drawn for its own questions. Planning wants to see how many people live there, building control wants fire routes and sound, and licensing wants a floor area for each bedroom.
Our fee is £665 drawings + £150 survey (£815 total). It includes the survey, the existing and proposed plans and the elevations. A fire strategy plan, £425, and a licence application pack, £475, are separate fixed-fee services that many HMO projects also use.
Does it need planning permission?
Planning law calls a small shared house Class C4, a dwellinghouse used by no more than six residents as a house in multiple occupation. Class L of the permitted development order lets a house move between ordinary use and that class in either direction.
That right is not universal. A council can remove it with an Article 4 direction, and several London boroughs have. Bexley’s borough-wide direction came into force on 24 September 2017, and Hounslow gave notice of a direction covering almost all of the borough on 6 July 2022. Where one applies, a change from house to small HMO needs an application, for which we draw the planning set.
More than six residents is a different use again, a large HMO, which does not have the permitted development route at all.
The licence and the room sizes
Separate from planning, a house must be licensed if it is occupied by five or more people living in two or more separate households. Licence conditions in England set minimum sleeping-room floor areas: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, and 10.22 square metres for two.
Those are measured floor areas, which is why a measured survey matters. A bedroom drawn at 6.8 square metres on an estimated plan can measure 6.4 on site, and then it falls short of the condition. We draw each room from the survey and mark its area.
Where the money goes besides the drawings
A change of use from a house to an HMO under permitted development has no council planning fee, because no application is made. Where an Article 4 direction requires one, the planning fee is set by the national fee schedule, and we confirm the exact figure before you pay anything.
Building control, any fire doors and detection, and the licence fee charged by your council come on top, and the last varies by borough. We list each in the quote so none is a surprise.
By the numbers
6
The most residents in a small house in multiple occupation, use class C4.
Source: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, Schedule: Class C4 (legislation.gov.uk)
Class L
The permitted development class that lets a house change to a small HMO and back, unless a council has removed it.
24 Sep 2017
Date Bexley’s borough-wide Article 4 direction on small HMOs came into force.
Source: Article 4 Directions, HMO direction (London Borough of Bexley)
6 Jul 2022
Date Hounslow gave notice of a direction, covering almost all of the borough, removing the right to change a house to a small HMO.
Source: Article 4 Directions, A4D.2 small HMOs (London Borough of Hounslow)
5 people
Occupancy at which an HMO in England needs a mandatory licence, if they form two or more households.
6.51 m²
Minimum floor area of a bedroom used by one person over 10 under licence conditions.
10.22 m²
Minimum floor area of a bedroom used by two people over 10.
4.64 m²
Minimum floor area for a bedroom used by one child under 10; smaller rooms may not be used for sleeping.
HMO conversion drawing costs: common questions
Is there a council fee for converting to an HMO?
If the change is permitted development, there is no planning application and so no planning fee. If your borough has an Article 4 direction, you apply and pay the national fee. You will also pay your council’s licence fee if the house is licensable.
Source: General Permitted Development Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 3, Class L: small HMOs (legislation.gov.uk) · Planning fees: annual indexation from 1 April 2026 (GOV.UK)
Do five tenants always mean a licence?
In England the mandatory licence applies where five or more people live as two or more separate households. Your borough may add its own licensing rules, so check with it.
Does the drawing fee cover the licence application?
No. We draw the plans to the room sizes the licence needs. The licence application itself is a separate fixed-fee pack.
Sources
- Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, Schedule: Class C4 (legislation.gov.uk)
- General Permitted Development Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 3, Class L: small HMOs (legislation.gov.uk)
- Article 4 Directions, HMO direction (London Borough of Bexley)
- Article 4 Directions, A4D.2 small HMOs (London Borough of Hounslow)
- Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Descriptions) (England) Order 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Planning fees: annual indexation from 1 April 2026 (GOV.UK)
About the author. Ben Shaukat is Managing Director of Property Architecture Ltd, which trades as Planning Drawings.
Published by Planning Drawings. Checked against the sources above on . Planning rules change; check your council before you build.