Article 4 HMO areas: planning rules and council list

HMO planning rules in brief

Change of use	Planning permission?
House (C3) to small HMO (C4, 3 to 6 unrelated residents)	Not normally: permitted development under Class L, Part 3 of the GPDO 2015. Yes inside an Article 4 area.
Small HMO (C4) back to a house (C3)	Not normally (also Class L)
Any building to a large HMO (more than 6 residents, sui generis)	Yes, everywhere
Building works (extensions, loft conversions)	Depends on the works; separate from the change of use

Planning and licensing are separate systems. An HMO with planning permission may still need a licence, and a licence does not grant planning permission. See do I need an HMO licence?

Article 4 HMO areas in England

Source: MHCLG's planning data platform (Article 4 direction areas, filtered to HMO directions) plus HMO Article 4 map layers published by some councils. Absence from this list does not mean there is no direction.

Council	HMO Article 4 areas	Examples
Barking and Dagenham	1	HMO Article 4
Barnet	1	Article 4 Small Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Area 1
Basingstoke and Deane	1	Basingstoke Town and Chineham and the surrounding villages of Old Basing, Oakley and Sherborne St John.
Bassetlaw	1	Worksop Central HMO
Birmingham	2	CITY WIDE HMO; SELLY OAK HMO
Blackpool	1	Article 4 Direction - C3 to C4 HMO
Brent	1	Article 4 for HMOs
Bristol, City of	20	Article 4 Avonmouth Village; Article 4 Avonmouth Village \| Avonmouth Village \| Effective 29/06/2020; Article 4 East…
Burnley	1	Article 4 Direction: Houses in Multiple Occupation
Bury	1	Bury borough HMO
Canterbury	1	Canterbury and surrounding area. Dated 25.02.2015 effective 25.02.2016
Cheltenham	1	St Pauls Ward
Coventry	1	HMO - 30.9.23
Crawley	10	Aintree Road & Epsom Road; Arden Road; Ardingly Close…
Dartford	1	HMO Article 4(1) Direction North Order 2025
Doncaster	1	Article 4 (HMO) Boundary - Came into force 14 October 2019
Enfield	1	Borough wide
Exeter	2	2023 Article 4 Direction; Article 4 Direction HMO
Fenland	1	Small Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Wisbech
Great Yarmouth	1	Article 4 Direction - Houses in Multiple Occupation Great Yarmouth
Halton	2	Halton Borough Council Article 4 - 1; Halton Borough Council Article 4 - A4D_1
Harlow	3	1 to 56 Morley Grove; 57 to 99 Morley Grove; HMO - townwide
Hillingdon	1	Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
Hounslow	1	Dwellinghouses (C3) to small HMOs (C4) - borough-wide Article 4 Direction
Ipswich	1	Article 4 Direction for Small HMOs
Leeds	1	A4D01
Leicester	2	Houses in Multiple Occupation - 2013; Leicester City Council HMO Article 4 Direction 2021
Lewisham	2	Small HMO Northern Extension; Small Houses in Multiple Occupation Article 4
Liverpool	5	1-3 Croxteth Road, L8 3SE; 18A Florida Court, Liverpool, L19 9EF; Land at the end of, Florida Court, Liverpool, L19 9EF…
Merton	2	Immediate article 4 direction for small houses in multiple occupation (HMO) - 2022; Immediate article 4 direction for small houses in multiple occupation (HMO) - 2026
Milton Keynes	2	Article 4 Direction relating to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HIMO) - Immediate direction; Article 4 Direction relating to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HIMO) - Non immediate direction
Newcastle upon Tyne	3	HW Jesmond & N Jesmond; Jesmond and Heaton; Saint Gabriel's Estate, Heaton
Newcastle-under-Lyme	1	Sidmouth Avenue, Gower Street, Granville Avenue, Northcote Place and King Street
North Warwickshire	1	Borough wide
Nottingham	1	Article 4 Direction Area: Houses in Multiple Occupation
Oxford	1	Houses in Multiple Occupation Article 4 Direction
Peterborough	1	Hampton, Fletton & Woodston and Park HiMO
Plymouth	1	HMOs Mutley, Greenbank, City Centre and surrounding areas
Rossendale	1	Immediate Article 4 Direction for small Houses in Multiple Occupation
Rother	1	Rother District Council (Houses in Multiple Occupation, Bexhill, East Sussex) Article 4 Direction, 2011
Salford	5	2018 HMO Article 4 Direction; 2018 HMO Article 4 Direction \| 2018 HMO Article 4 Direction \| Article 4 directions: ‘small’ houses in multiple occupation (HMO); 2024 HMO Article 4 Direction…
Sefton	3	Aintree HMO; Bootle and Waterloo HMO; Southport HMO
South Gloucestershire	2	Land at Gloucester Road North in the Filton ward; Land at Stoke Park and Cheswick ward East of Southmead Road
Southampton	1	HMO
Southwark	2	Houses in multiple occupation: Bywater Place, SE16; Houses in multiple occupation: Henshaw Street, SE17
Stevenage	1	Stevenage
Tower Hamlets	1	HMOs \| The council has confirmed an Article 4 direction to remove permitted development right for changes of use from residential dwellings
Waltham Forest	1	Other Article 4 Direction Area
York	1	HMO

Upcoming Article 4 HMO dates

Date	Council	What
1 Jan 2027	Bristol, City of	Article 4 (HMO) direction takes effect: Frome Vale \| Frome Vale, Hillfields \| Effective 01/01/2027
1 Jan 2027	Bristol, City of	Article 4 (HMO) direction takes effect: Pur Down \| Lockleaze, Eastville, Frome Vale \| Effective 01/01/2027
1 Jan 2027	Bristol, City of	Article 4 (HMO) direction takes effect: Southmead \| Southmead, Horfield \| Effective 01/01/2027
1 Jan 2027	Bristol, City of	Article 4 (HMO) direction takes effect: St Anne's and Brislington \| Knowle, Brislington East, Brislington West \| Effecti
1 Jan 2027	Bristol, City of	Article 4 (HMO) direction takes effect: St George's \| St Georges West, Easton, Eastville \| Effective 01/01/2027
1 Jan 2027	Bristol, City of	Article 4 (HMO) direction takes effect: Westbury Park \| Westbury-On-Trym and Henleaze \| Effective 01/01/2027
30 Jul 2027	Reigate and Banstead	proposed Article 4 (C4 HMO) direction would take effect (if confirmed)

How Article 4 directions are made

A council publishes notice of the direction and consults. Directions for HMOs are usually "non-immediate": they come into force after a notice period, commonly 12 months, which avoids the council having to pay compensation for withdrawn permitted development rights. An HMO already in lawful C4 use before the direction takes effect can usually continue; keep evidence of the date the use began (tenancy agreements, council tax records, licence applications).

Buying a property to use as an HMO

Check the council's Article 4 map and planning history for the address.
If the property is already an HMO, ask for evidence of lawful use or a certificate of lawfulness.
Check the council's licensing schemes and public register: licences do not transfer to a buyer.

Article 4 HMO questions

What is an Article 4 direction for HMOs?

An Article 4 direction is made by a council under the General Permitted Development Order 2015. For HMOs, it removes the permitted development right to change a house from use class C3 (dwellinghouse) to C4 (small HMO) in a defined area. Inside that area you need planning permission to convert a family house into a small HMO.

Do you need planning permission for an HMO?

For a small HMO (3 to 6 unrelated people sharing basic amenities, use class C4), not normally, because change from C3 to C4 is permitted development, unless an Article 4 direction applies. A large HMO with more than 6 residents is a "sui generis" use and needs planning permission everywhere.

Am I in an Article 4 area?

Check the council's planning pages or its planning map. National data is incomplete: 178 councils publish no Article 4 data to the government planning data platform, and 67 publish some Article 4 areas but none labelled as HMO directions. Our council pages tell you which situation applies.

Is an Article 4 HMO rule the same as an HMO licence?

No. Article 4 is planning control over the use of a building. Licensing is housing control over how an HMO is managed. You may need planning permission, a licence, or both.

What is the list of Article 4 HMO areas in the UK?

The government's planning data platform lists Article 4 direction areas for councils that publish them. We filtered it for HMO directions and added some councils' own map layers: 100 HMO Article 4 areas across 49 councils in England, shown below. It is not a complete list.

Sources

Last checked 28 Sep 2026. Information, not legal advice. Licensing schemes change often; always confirm with the council before you act.

Article 4 HMO rules: when a small HMO needs planning permission