Planning permission for HMO's Houses in multiple occupation

Planning law changes for HMO's and shared houses

From the 6th April 2010, the planning laws were changed for HMO's and shared houses. This can get complex, so we hope this is an easy to understand summary. We are finance experts and not planning experts, so please use this information to provide an overview and consult you planning dept for any specific answers.

What is the change?

From 6th April, properties that are let to 3 or more unrelated people and who form 2 or more households and share amenties (Kitchen and bathroom) with need planning permission approval from your local council

Why has the change been introduced?

Existing laws on HMO's and shared houses were concerned with health and safety and not planning. Once the HMO had 5 or more tenants forming 2 or more households over 3 floors it required a HMO licence and this is still the case.

The Planning change is concerned with controlling the density of HMO's and how many properties are in a particular area and things such as the car parking allocated to a property. In theory, if you planned to convert a property into a HMO where the council viewed there was already too many HMO's or insufficent parking for the proposed tenants, then the council could refuse your application

Key points on the change

It is not retrospective
I have been informed by my local planning dept that this retrospective condition will continue even if you sell the property. In other words the buyer will not be required to obtain planning permission before they purchase the property, as long as there is no break in use of property for 6 months between sale and purchase.
If you do need to get planning permission for a property the typical costs are £350 and the process can take 8 weeks

For more information on raising finance, please visit our HMO finance page

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