HMO floor plans in Tower Hamlets

Not always — a small HMO for three to six sharers is often permitted development from a family house, so you may need only a licence. But Tower Hamlets operates Article 4 directions that remove that right in parts of the borough, and inside one you need planning permission for the change of use as well. A large HMO for seven or more always needs permission. We confirm which route your Tower Hamlets property falls into before you apply. Tower Hamlets Council is the decision-maker.

Licensing sets national minimum floor areas — broadly 6.51 m² for a single adult, 10.22 m² for two, with smaller rooms not countable as sleeping space — and Tower Hamlets Council may apply its own higher amenity standards on top, which bites hardest on the older houses around Spitalfields and Bow. Rooms below the minimum cannot be let as bedrooms, which directly sets how many sharers the house supports. We schedule every room to its measured area so you know your true rentable capacity before applying.

Tower Hamlets Council needs a scaled floor plan showing every room with its use and size, the shared kitchen, bathroom and WC provision, and the fire-safety layout — escape route, fire doors and detection. The plan is the heart of the application, because the licence is granted on whether the layout meets the amenity, space and fire standards. We draw it to the standard the borough actually applies so it is not sent back for remeasurement.

A shared house needs a protected means of escape — typically a fire-door-lined route from every bedroom to the exit — along with compartmentation between floors and a linked alarm system, all shown on the licensing plan. Tower Hamlets Council and its fire-safety inspectors check this closely, because an HMO houses unrelated households who may not know the building. We draw the escape strategy and fire-door lines into the layout so the fire case is made on the plan.

A small HMO houses three to six unrelated sharers and, outside an Article 4 area, is often permitted development needing only a licence. A large HMO houses seven or more, which is a sui generis planning use that always needs permission from Tower Hamlets Council regardless of the Article 4 position. The distinction changes both the drawings and the consents, so we establish the intended occupancy in the Tower Hamlets property at the outset.

We price each Tower Hamlets HMO individually, because the number of rooms, whether a change-of-use application is needed and the fire-escape complexity all vary house to house, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the scaled licensing plan and any planning set with free revisions until Tower Hamlets Council is satisfied. The council licence fee is separate. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.