An HMO in Loughborough has to work for three audiences: the council, the people who live there and the owner's figures. We design with all three in mind and price the result in writing.
You get one point of contact for the whole job, a fixed price for the agreed specification and a written programme showing when each stage happens.
HMO rules in Charnwood Borough Council
| Rule | Charnwood Borough Council |
|---|---|
| Mandatory HMO licence (5+ people) | In force everywhere in England |
| Additional HMO licensing | In force Whole borough, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028 |
| Selective licensing | In part of the area Hastings and Lemyngton wards in Loughborough, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028 |
| Article 4 direction for small HMOs | In part of the area Loughborough, since 12 February 2012 |
Checked October 2026 against Charnwood Borough Council's HMO licensing page. Schemes change, so we confirm the position for your address before any work starts.
Charnwood Borough Council's Article 4 direction covers Loughborough, so turning a family house in Loughborough into a small HMO needs planning permission. We prepare the planning application before any conversion work starts. Seven or more occupants always needs planning permission. Charnwood Borough Council also runs additional licensing across its whole area (until 31 March 2028), so smaller HMOs with three or four people from two or more households need a licence too.
How we handle HMO loft conversion work in Loughborough
Plenty of houses have roof space that could hold extra bedrooms, but in Loughborough we always measure the headroom first, because floor under a 1.5 m ceiling does not count towards room size. That tells you how many rooms the loft can really add.
A loft room usually creates a third storey, so we plan the protected escape route and alarm upgrades for the whole Loughborough house, not just the new floor. We also check the occupant count, because seven or more residents needs planning permission anywhere in Leicestershire.
- Headroom survey and countable floor area calculation
- Structural design and building control application
- New staircase and protected escape route
- Updated floor plans for the licence file
- Planning and permitted development position checked first
Letting to students and sharers in Loughborough
Loughborough is close to a university or college campus, so students and young professionals are part of the local rental market. If that is your market, layouts with en-suites, a generous kitchen and secure bike storage are worth planning in from the start.