Most of the cost and risk in an HMO is decided at the design stage. In Bournville we start by measuring every room and checking Birmingham City Council's position on licensing and planning, then build the specification around it.
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 Birmingham City Council
| Rule | Birmingham City Council |
|---|---|
| Mandatory HMO licence (5+ people) | In force everywhere in England |
| Additional HMO licensing | In force Whole city, 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028 |
| Selective licensing | In part of the area 25 of the city's 69 wards, 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028 |
| Article 4 direction for small HMOs | In force Whole city, in force since 8 June 2020 |
Checked October 2026 against Birmingham City Council's HMO licensing page. Schemes change, so we confirm the position for your address before any work starts.
Birmingham City Council has an Article 4 direction across its whole area, so turning a family house in Bournville 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. Birmingham City Council also runs additional licensing across its whole area (until 4 June 2028), so smaller HMOs with three or four people from two or more households need a licence too.
How we handle HMO refurbishment work in Bournville
We refurbish existing HMOs in Bournville that have fallen behind current standards, whether the prompt is a licence renewal, a council inspection or rooms that have become hard to let. The survey splits the work into safety, licence and optional items so the priorities are clear.
Where rooms in a Bournville house are still let, we phase the work so tenants keep a working kitchen, bathroom and alarm system throughout. For landlords across the West Midlands, each job ends with updated certificates and photos ready to send to the council.
- Kitchens, bathrooms, electrics and decoration renewed as agreed
- Room-by-room condition and compliance survey
- Fire doors, alarms and escape routes brought up to standard
- Works list split into safety, licence and optional items
- Before and after photos and updated certificates
HMO refurbishment near Bournville
- Stirchley under a mile
- Kings Heath 1.1 miles
- Kings Norton 1.4 miles
- Selly Oak 1.8 miles
- Bournbrook 1.8 miles
- Northfield 2.1 miles