Astor Place · Borough Intelligence

Merton HMO & Article 4 planning

1517 applications in the last 12 months · Current to 15 September 2026 via the Planning London Datahub — list only, no case papers.

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Astor analyst's read

Merton — 1,551 applications in 12 months; no Article 4 restriction is recorded in our data (verify directly with the local authority) in our records (verify with council)

Profile

Outer South London residential borough, mixed suburban and lower-density family stock, historically Conservative-leaning authority.

Planning

no Article 4 restriction is recorded in our data (verify directly with the local authority) in our records; verify Article 4 footprint and HMO policy directly with Merton planning team.

Deal angle

Without confirmed Article 4 coverage or approval-rate data, insufficient data for a confident bridging/HMO read; baseline activity volume (1,551 applications) suggests active market.

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HMO Requirements in Merton

What it takes to run a House in Multiple Occupation in Merton — whether you need planning permission, the licence the property must hold, and the statutory minimum room sizes. Verify current details with the council before committing.

Full guides: HMO licensing in Merton ↗ · Article 4 directions ↗

01 · Planning permission
Article 4 status unknown — we hold no records

We hold no Article 4 records at all for Merton — no source we read publishes them for this council, which is not the same as there being none. A direction may be in force, so treat this as unknown and check with the council before assuming a conversion is permitted development.

See the full Article 4 picture below ↓
02 · Licence to operate
Mandatory HMO licence National
5 or more occupants forming 2 or more separate households

Any HMO occupied by five or more people making up two or more separate households (sharing a kitchen, bathroom or toilet) must hold a mandatory HMO licence. This applies in every council in England, regardless of the number of storeys.

No Additional or Selective licensing scheme in our records for Merton. Many boroughs operate schemes that extend licensing to smaller HMOs or all rented homes, and these change on five-year cycles — check the council's current designation via the gov.uk licence finder ↗.
03 · Minimum room sizes
One person aged over 10 6.51 m²
Two people aged over 10 10.22 m²
One person aged under 10 4.64 m²
Any sleeping room ≥ 4.64 m²
Kitchen, bathroom & WC standards

Licensed HMOs must provide adequate, well-located cooking, washing and toilet facilities for the number of occupants, plus safe gas/electrics, working fire detection and proper waste storage. The exact ratios (occupants per bathroom, per WC, kitchen size) are set by each council in its own HMO amenity standards — confirm the figures with the borough before committing to a scheme.

Minimum room sizes and the mandatory-licensing threshold are national law (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018), sourced under the Open Government Licence v3 — they apply in every council. Licensing designations shown are those in our records; verify the current position and exact amenity standards with Merton Council before relying on this. gov.uk: HMO licences ↗

Article 4 Directions in Merton planning.data.gov.uk

We hold no Article 4 records for this borough — no source we read publishes Article 4 data for Merton. That is a statement about our sources, not about the council: a direction may still be in force. Check with the council directly, or the national map ↗, before relying on this either way.
ASTOR UNDERWRITING UNIT // MERTON // DATA SYNC: ACTIVE // PORTAL: VERIFIED