Redbridge Floor Plan Requirements for a Landlord Licence Application

Floor plans trip up more Redbridge licence applications than any other document. The council doesn't need architect-quality drawings, but it does need specific information in specific formats — and plans that miss the safety details get sent back.

What the Floor Plans Must Show

Every floor of the property needs its own plan. Each plan must include:

Room dimensions in square metres (m²) — Measure every room and label the floor area. For HMO licences, these dimensions directly determine the occupancy limits the council writes onto the licence. Any space where the ceiling height is below 1.5 metres must be excluded from the area calculation.

Fire escape routes — Mark the path from each bedroom to the nearest exit. In HMOs, this typically means showing the route through hallways and stairways to the front door or another designated escape route.

Smoke alarm positions — Show the exact location of every hard-wired smoke alarm. Smoke alarms are required on every storey used for living accommodation. Mark them with a clear symbol on the plan.

Heat detector positions — Mark the location of each heat detector on the relevant floor plan.

Emergency lighting — For HMOs with internal common areas, mark the positions of emergency lighting units.

Drawing Standards

Professional architect drawings are not required. Hand-drawn plans are accepted, and many landlords use free floor plan software or even graph paper.

The critical standards:

• Plans must be to scale (approximate is fine — the council isn't measuring with callipers, but the proportions should be realistic)
• Room labels must be clear (bedroom 1, bedroom 2, kitchen, bathroom, etc.)
• Dimensions must be in square metres, not feet
• Fire safety features must be clearly marked with a key or legend
• Each floor needs a separate page

Room Size Rules for HMOs

The floor plan dimensions feed directly into the council's occupancy assessment:

If any room on your plan shows an area under 4.64 m² and it's being used as a bedroom, the council will flag it as a statutory breach. Better to discover this when you're drawing the plan than during a council inspection.

Common Mistakes

Omitting fire safety features — The most common rejection reason. Plans with room dimensions but no alarm positions get sent back. Always include smoke alarms, heat detectors, and escape routes.

Using imperial measurements — The council requires metric. Convert everything to square metres before labelling.

Not measuring below low ceilings — Attic rooms and spaces under stairs often have areas below 1.5m ceiling height. Exclude these from the floor area calculation.

Single plan for a multi-storey property — Each floor needs its own separate plan. A single overview of the whole building doesn't give the council enough detail.

Missing heat detector positions — If your property has heat detectors, show them on the floor plan along with the other fire-safety features.

How to Measure

Use a laser distance measurer or a standard tape measure. For each room:

1. Measure the length and width at floor level
2. Multiply to get the area in square metres
3. Identify any areas where the ceiling is below 1.5m and subtract them
4. Record the net usable floor area on the plan

For L-shaped rooms, divide into rectangular sections, calculate each, and add them together.

The Redbridge Landlord Licensing Guide includes a floor plan annotation guide showing exactly which safety symbols to use, where to place them, and how to label dimensions so your plans pass first time.

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