Harrow Council has confirmed a borough-wide Article 4 Direction, requiring planning permission for the conversion of dwelling houses into small Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) for three to six people. This decision, confirmed by the Cabinet on Thursday 24 September 2026, aims to give the council greater control over the proliferation of HMOs and their impact on residential areas, with the direction now having permanent effect.
Councillor Marilyn Ashton, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration, stated that the Article 4 Direction had had a tremendous effect on the borough
and was an excellent idea.
She elaborated that the problem of HMOs, when introduced without an application process, could lead to issues with bin collection, parking, and an overall proliferation in the area,
negatively impacting residents' quality of life and residential amenity. The problem is, when you just put an HMO on a street without any application process, it might not have the right bin collection system, it might not have the right parking, it might not have very other things, or there might be a proliferation of them on the street, so it's really important that we have this,
Councillor Ashton said.
The Article 4 Direction will require planning permission for such conversions, meaning they will no longer be permitted development. This change is intended to give the Council greater control over the location, concentration, and potential impacts of HMOs, thereby protecting the character of residential areas and ensuring that any new HMOs are appropriate and well-managed.
This will likely lead to more scrutiny of HMO applications and potentially limit the number of new HMOs being created without planning consideration, impacting the supply and development of this specific housing type in Harrow.
Councillor Ashton added, Together with the local plan, which has very robust policy on HMOs, converting single family dwelling houses into HMOs, it's very important that we have good policies. And we didn't have them before.
The Harrow Local Plan (2021-2041) policy HO10 contains 12 criteria for assessing HMO applications, including considerations for loss of family size housing, overconcentration of HMOs in a given area and the sustainability of the location.
These robust policies complement the Article 4 Direction by allowing the Council to assess applications against these criteria and resist them
where they are deemed inappropriate or harmful to local amenity.
The confirmation follows a consultation period during which three responses were received. One response indicated potential errors in the report and a request for Judicial Review, though no further action was taken. Another concern was raised about the impact on HMO licensing and property investment, with a respondent suggesting it would be not worth buying a property as it was not possible to 100% confirm beforehand.
The council clarified that the Article 4 Direction requires planning permission for small HMOs, not a blanket ban, and that licensing is a separate but dependent process. A third response highlighted concerns about high rental prices leading to affordability issues for single people, the demand for HMO rooms, and the variety of tenants. This response reiterated that the Article 4 Direction does not ban HMOs but requires planning permission, allowing for consideration of housing need, quality, and location, with the Harrow Local Plan directing HMOs towards areas with good public transport and access to services.
Enforcing this new planning permission requirement will increase workload for Harrow Council's planning authority, particularly in Development Management and Enforcement. To address this, funding has been identified for an additional full-time equivalent (FTE) planning/enforcement officer on a one-year fixed-term contract, with an estimated annual cost of £61,097. The additional workload is expected to generate sufficient planning application fee income to contribute towards meeting the cost of this temporary post.
Cabinet agreed that authority be delegated to the Chief Planning Officer and the Strategic Director of Legal and Governance, following consultation with Councillor Ashton, to complete the necessary procedures. The meeting minutes do not specify an exact timeline for these procedures, but it is implied that they will be completed following the Cabinet's decision. Agenda frontsheet Thursday 24-Sep-2026 18.30 Cabinet
