HMO drawings London, from £1,500, published

What does an HMO licensing layout show, room by room?

An HMO licensing layout in London is a scaled plan that labels every room's use and area and marks the kitchens, bathrooms and escape routes, so a licensing officer can test each room against the Housing Act 2004 conditions and the council's amenity standards without visiting. The plan and the application form must agree, and each room is checked against something different.

The areas come from a laser survey, so they are the building's areas and not an estate agent's estimate. The measured survey is £150 on its own if you only need that.

What room sizes does an HMO licence require in London?

The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018 set minimum sleeping room areas of 6.51m² for one adult, 10.22m² for two adults and 4.64m² for a child under ten, and a London council may add its own kitchen, bathroom and shared-space standards on top. A bedroom that passes nationally can still be refused when the kitchen is too small for the sharers.

Sloping ceilings reduce usable area, so a bedroom made in the roof, as in a loft conversion, is the room most likely to fall short. When one does, we show the options on paper: fewer named occupants, two rooms merged, or a partition moved.

What goes on an HMO fire strategy plan?

An HMO fire strategy plan is a scaled drawing that records the escape route from every bedroom, the fire door positions, smoke and heat detection, emergency lighting and whether the kitchen is enclosed, so a licensing officer working under the Housing Act 2004 can assess the fire design of the house before inspecting it. In full, it records:

• The route from every bedroom to a final exit.
• Which doors are fire doors and which close on their own.
• Smoke and heat detector positions, and how the alarm links floors.
• Emergency lighting and firefighting equipment where your council asks for them.
• Whether the kitchen opens onto the escape route or is enclosed.

Many councils work from the LACORS guidance, Housing – Fire Safety, and from the Housing Health and Safety Rating System under the Housing Act 2004. We draw to the standard your council applies. The plan is a design record, not a fire risk assessment, and it does not replace the one the responsible person must carry out. Structural work or new fire separation needs building regulations drawings at £795.

Do I need planning permission for an HMO in London?

Yes for seven or more unrelated people, because that sui generis use always needs full planning permission. For three to six people, Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 allows a change from C3 to C4 without an application, unless your London borough's Article 4 direction removes it. The answer changes at each step up in occupancy.

1. Dwellinghouse, Class C3. A single household. No HMO use and no HMO licence.
2. Small HMO, Class C4. Three to six unrelated sharers. Class L of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 allows the change without an application unless an Article 4 direction removes the right. Many London boroughs have one.
3. Licensable HMO. Five or more people forming two or more households need a mandatory licence under the Housing Act 2004. This runs alongside the planning position, not instead of it.
4. Sui generis. Seven or more unrelated people. No use class, no permitted development right and full planning permission every time, at £610 to the council where a change of use application is required.

Licensing and planning are separate, and one does not cure the other. A licensed HMO without planning permission is still unlawful for planning purposes, so buyers should ask for the planning history, not only the licence. To find your own position, use the permitted development checker; if it says you need no application, that is the answer, even though a planning application is our £895 service. Proof of the right for a lender or buyer is a certificate of lawfulness at from £950. Where an application is needed, see planning permission drawings and the permitted development guide.

Why do HMO licence applications get sent back?

HMO licence applications in London are usually returned for four reasons: a bedroom below the mandatory minimum for the occupants named, plan areas that disagree with the application form, an undersized kitchen, or a missing escape route. Each traces to a published standard rather than an officer's taste, so checking every room before the layout is issued is the cheapest part of the job. The expensive version is a refused licence on a house that is already let.

How much do HMO drawings cost in London?

HMO drawings in London cost from £1,500 at Fixed Fee Plans, published on this page and confirmed in writing before work starts, with the £610 council fee for a change of use application, the licence fee and building control all paid separately. The fee is a floor because HMOs vary. The survey is usually done within five working days and drawings are ready in about three weeks. Council officer revisions are included, and you keep the CAD files.

The licence fee, the planning fee and building control all sit outside ours. Every price is on the prices page, the fee calculator totals ours and the council's, and a single let that needs only a council scheme plan is cheaper as landlord floor plans. The London drawing cost guide puts the wider market in context.