If you are planning to convert a property in Brent to a small HMO — letting it to between three and six unrelated occupants sharing facilities — you almost certainly need planning permission first. The borough’s Article 4 direction has been in force since 1 November 2022 and removes the permitted development right to make this change in almost the whole borough. Getting this wrong is one of the most common reasons landlords find themselves on the receiving end of enforcement action in Brent. This article sets out the specifics of the Brent direction and what it means in practice.
For the underlying mechanics of Article 4 directions in general — what they are, how councils make them, what they do and do not affect — see our separate guide to HMO Article 4 directions explained. This article assumes you are familiar with the basic framework and concentrates on the position in Brent.
The current Brent direction — confirmed and in force
The current Article 4 direction in Brent was made on 14 October 2021, confirmed by the council on 3 February 2022, and came into force on 1 November 2022. It was made on a non-immediate basis, which means it took effect more than twelve months after confirmation and the Council is not exposed to compensation claims from landlords disadvantaged by the loss of permitted development rights.
The direction is borough-wide, with three specifically defined exceptions. The first is the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation Area, which is a separate planning authority with its own Article 4 direction relating to HMOs. The second is the draft Local Plan’s site allocations within the Church End Growth Area. The third is all parts of the other seven Growth Areas designated in the adopted Local Plan. Outside those exclusions, the direction applies to the whole of the borough — including all of the older Victorian and Edwardian residential streets of Kilburn, Harlesden, Willesden, Cricklewood, Kensal Rise and Brondesbury where most of the borough’s HMO conversions take place. The published notice and accompanying map are available on Brent’s planning policy pages.
Why Brent did it twice — and why the Growth Areas were carved out
The current direction is in fact the council’s second attempt. A borough-wide direction was originally made in October 2019 with the intention of taking effect from 1 November 2020. That earlier direction had no Growth Area exclusions: it would have applied uniformly across the whole borough.
It did not survive the consultation process. Quintain, the master developer of Wembley Park, submitted a detailed objection arguing that requiring planning permission every time a flat in their build-to-rent portfolio was let to sharers, rather than to a single household, would generate huge administrative volume and damage investor confidence in further build-to-rent investment in the borough. Wembley Park is expected to deliver around 5,000 build-to-rent dwellings, about 20% of Brent’s projected housing supply to 2041.
After considering those representations, Cabinet revoked the 2019 direction at its meeting on 11 October 2021 and approved a new direction with the Growth Area exclusions. Cabinet’s reasoning, set out at length in the published report, was that new homes in the Growth Areas will be built to high standards and predominantly as one- and two-bedroom flats, so the planning case for an Article 4 there was weaker.
The council also framed the carve-outs explicitly as a way of complying with the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which since July 2021 has required Article 4 directions to apply to “the smallest geographical area possible”.
For a landlord or developer, the practical consequence is that the direction has a hard geographical boundary. If your property is in the Wembley Park area or one of the other Growth Areas, you may still benefit from the C3-to-C4 permitted development right. If it is in any of the older residential parts of the borough, you almost certainly do not. The boundary line matters and is worth checking carefully before committing to a project.
What the direction does and does not cover
The direction applies only to the C3-to-C4 permitted development right. It does not affect the reverse change from C4 back to C3 (still permitted development), the change of use from C3 to a sui generis HMO with seven or more occupants (which has always required permission), or extensions and alterations to existing C4 HMOs (which remain permitted development). The last point was confirmed by the High Court in London Borough of Brent v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Yehuda Rothschild [2022] EWHC 2051 (Admin), where the Court held that a C4 HMO is a “dwellinghouse” for the purposes of the GPDO and benefits from the same permitted development rights for householder extensions as a C3 dwelling.
What it does mean is that any unauthorised C3-to-C4 change of use after 1 November 2022, anywhere in the Article 4 area, is a breach of planning control. The council can investigate, serve a Planning Contravention Notice, and ultimately issue an enforcement notice requiring the use to cease.
Why Brent enforces this aggressively
Brent operates the busiest planning enforcement service in the country and HMOs are at the heart of its workload. The council’s own internal reporting acknowledges that many enforcement complaints relate to HMOs, and that the planning enforcement team spends a disproportionate amount of time on HMO cases. As we set out in our guide to planning enforcement in Brent, the council prosecutes non-compliance with enforcement notices several times a year, secures Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation orders against rogue landlords, and pursues direct action against persistent breaches. The financial exposure for a landlord operating an unauthorised HMO can run to six figures once POCA is in play, with the Sarkari case in 2018 producing a £1.5 million confiscation order in joint action with neighbouring Harrow.
The Article 4 direction makes the planning position less ambiguous and easier for the council to enforce. Before 1 November 2022, a landlord could legitimately argue that a small HMO was permitted development. After that date, that argument is no longer available in almost any part of the borough.
The policy framework once permission is required
Removing permitted development rights is only the first step. Once an application is needed, it has to be assessed against Brent’s adopted Local Plan policies and the 2022 Houses in Multiple Occupation Supplementary Planning Document. The key policy is BH7, which sets a five-part test: the HMO must be in an area with good access to public transport and amenities; must provide acceptable quality of accommodation; must have agreed management arrangements; must demonstrate a specific Brent need; and must not lead to an over-concentration of HMOs, defined as three or more of the ten nearest properties already being HMOs.
The “need” test is one of the recurring battlegrounds in Brent applications. The council interprets it as requiring positive evidence — typically letters from local letting agents confirming demand for HMO rooms in the immediate area — rather than relying on the self-evident fact that any inner London location has demand for shared accommodation. Applications that do not engage with this evidentially will be refused on BH7 grounds.
The “three of ten nearest” concentration test is also distinctive. Most authorities operate a percentage-based test within a fixed radius — typically 10% within 50 metres. Brent’s formulation is different and more granular, and disputes about which neighbouring properties count as HMOs are a frequent feature of appeals. The 26% borough-wide concentration ceiling in the adopted Local Plan is also relevant, although in practice the local concentration test bites first.
Check out our guide to HMO enforcement in Brent. For the wider framework on how HMO applications are assessed nationally, see our page on planning permission for HMOs. For a much fuller treatment of the law, policy and tactics involved in obtaining planning permission for HMOs across England, Martin Gaine’s book Planning for HMOs is the standard practical guide.
What to do if you are planning a Brent project
If you are planning to convert a Brent property to a small HMO, the practical sequence is straightforward. First, check whether the property falls within the Article 4 area — the published map is on Brent’s website. Second, if the direction applies, plan the application around the BH7 criteria from the outset, with proper evidence on the “need” test and a clear assessment of the local concentration position. Third, address the amenity and management points in the SPD at design stage, not as an afterthought.
What to do if you have already converted without permission
If you have already changed the use of a Brent property to a small HMO after 1 November 2022 without permission, you are in breach. The immunity period is now ten years under the post-Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 regime, so the 2022 commencement date sits well within enforcement reach.
You have three realistic options. You can apply retrospectively for planning permission, in which case the application will be assessed on the same policy framework as a fresh application. You can wait and hope the council does not investigate — a gamble against the most active enforcement authority in the country. Or you can negotiate a managed wind-down, which is sometimes the right answer where the policy obstacles to permission are insurmountable. The right choice depends entirely on the specifics of the property and the policy position.
How we can help
We act for Brent HMO landlords and developers regularly — on retrospective applications, fresh applications, enforcement notice appeals, certificates of lawfulness, and negotiations with the Council. We know the policy framework, we know how Brent’s planning team applies it in practice, and we know which arguments work on appeal. If you are planning a project or facing enforcement action, contact us early.
