Planning permission for HMOs

Check if you need planning permission before renting your property out as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

What is an HMO

A property is an HMO if:

  • you rent it to 3 or more people
  • your tenants do not all belong to the same family or household
  • your tenants share a toilet, bathroom, living room or kitchen

HMO licence

If you rent your HMO out to 5 or more people you'll also need an HMO licence. This is a separate process from getting planning permission. Find out more about applying for an HMO licence.

Converting a property into an HMO

Converting a property means that you rent it out as an HMO where it was not previously rented as one (even if you do not do any building work on it). This is known as a 'change of use'.

Check if your HMO needs planning permission

You'll need to apply for planning permission if you are going to (either):

Article 4 direction

We have removed permitted development rights for HMOs in the article 4 direction area (PDF 582KB). This means you will need planning permission within this area for HMOs where you might not need it in other areas.

How we decide when to give permission

Before granting planning permission we will make sure that:

  • there are enough HMOs in Leeds for peoples' needs
  • HMOs are in areas well connected to employment and education destinations that occupants will visit
  • there are enough amenities and parking spaces for residents
  • harmful impacts from high concentrations of HMOs are avoided 
  • the loss of existing housing for families in areas of high concentrations of HMOs is avoided

Read more about how we make decisions on planning permission for HMOs.

Get advice on planning permission

If you would like advice about your property before submitting your application, we offer a pre-application advice service.

Cost

You'll need to pay a fee to apply for planning permission. Find out how much it costs on the planning portal fee calculator.

Applying

You can apply through the planning portal or a paper application. Find out more about the process of applying for planning permission.

What to select on the planning portal

You should select:

  1. 'Full planning permission' as your application type'
  2. 'Other material change of use of a building or land'

Contact us

planning@leeds.gov.uk