Sutton Council becomes latest borough to implement HMO planning restrictions

Sunday, February 9th, 2025 - Sutton Council

Sutton Council is the latest London Borough to clamp down on new Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) by tightening up the planning rules.

On 22 February 2024 Sutton Council made a borough wide non-immediate HMO Article 4 Direction that removes the permitted development rights to change a property from a single-family house to an HMO occupied by up to six people without planning permission.

London Property Licensing understands the proposals were subject to a brief public consultation from 22 February to 21 March 2024 although we had no knowledge about the consultation so were unable to share any information.

A report to the council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee meeting on 26 November 2024 reveals thirteen supportive responses were received from residents and four supportive responses from resident associations. There were no responses from landlords and letting of managing agents.  

The HMO Article 4 Direction was confirmed on 26 November 2024 and comes into force on 22 February 2025. 

From that date, even letting your property to three people who are not all related requires planning permission. The Direction is not retrospective and has no impact on existing small HMOs.

According to the council, residents in Sutton have become increasingly concerned about the rising number of small HMOs. The HMO Article 4 Direction enables the council to determine planning applications for all new HMOs in the borough.

Councillor Jake Short, Chair of Sutton’s Housing, Economy & Business Committee, said:

“HMOs play an important role in Sutton and offer a flexible form of accommodation that is often cheaper than self-contained housing within the same area and helps meet the diverse needs of our residents. However, developers of HMOs must play by the same rules as others.

“Turning larger houses into small HMOs has not required planning permission since 2015, in a move approved by the previous government. This means the Council and residents do not have a say on whether it is appropriate in that part of the borough.“This Article 4 Direction will ensure that any future proposals for HMOs will be scrutinised by the Council against the full range of relevant planning policies ensuring that decisions are consistent. Any HMOs permitted by the Council in future will be high-quality and will not negatively impact on the local area.”

Our free guide containing more information about property licensing and HMO planning restrictions in Sutton is available here.

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