Redbridge Section 257 HMO Licence: Converted Flats and What Landlords Must Know

What a Section 257 HMO Is

Section 257 of the Housing Act 2004 defines a specific category of HMO that applies to converted buildings rather than shared houses. A building qualifies as a Section 257 HMO if it meets all three criteria:

1. The building has been converted into self-contained flats
2. The conversion did not comply with the Building Regulations 1991 (or the regulations in force at the time of conversion)
3. Less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied

This catches many older conversions in Redbridge — Victorian and Edwardian terraces that were split into flats decades ago without modern building regulations compliance. The flats may be entirely self-contained with their own kitchens and bathrooms, but because the building's conversion predates current standards, it falls under this classification.

When a Section 257 Building Needs a Licence in Redbridge

Under Redbridge's borough-wide Additional HMO Licensing designation, a Section 257 building requires a licence at the building level if:

• It contains three or more self-contained flats
• All flats are privately rented (none are owner-occupied)
• All units are under unified ownership or management control — the same individual, company, or managing entity owns or manages the entire building

The licence application is submitted as an additional HMO application through the Redbridge portal. The fee structure follows the standard HMO banding based on the number of households in the building — £1,969.60 for three households, with the Part A fee fixed at £696.14.

When Individual Flat Licences Apply Instead

If the flats in a Section 257 building are separately owned and are not under unified management control, the building-level HMO licence does not apply. Each flat owner who lets their unit must obtain the licence required for that unit's occupancy and location:

• In a selective licensing ward (Schemes 3 or 4): each flat needs a selective licence if let to a single household. If it houses three or four people from two or more households, it needs an Additional HMO licence; with five or more people, it needs a Mandatory HMO licence.
• In an exempt ward: no selective licence is needed for single-household lets. If an individual flat houses three or four people from two or more households, it needs its own Additional HMO licence; with five or more people, it needs a Mandatory HMO licence.

The building as a whole escapes the Section 257 HMO classification because the flats are not under unified ownership or management.

How to Tell If Your Building Qualifies

The key question is whether the conversion complied with the building regulations that were in force at the time. For conversions done before 1991, compliance with the earlier regulations counts — but many pre-war and immediate post-war conversions were done informally without any building regulations sign-off.

Redbridge does not maintain a public register of Section 257 buildings. If you own or manage a converted building and are unsure whether it meets licensing standards, the council offers a pre-application advisory visit for £477, with an inspection and compliance report identifying any physical works needed.

The fit and proper person test, document requirements (gas safety, EICR, floor plans, fire risk assessment), and licence conditions all apply to Section 257 applications in the same way as standard HMO applications.

The Article 4 Direction Complication

Redbridge's borough-wide Article 4 Direction, in force since 6 December 2019, removed permitted development rights for changing a dwelling (C3) into a small HMO (C4). This is a separate planning issue from the Section 257 classification and applies where a property was changed from C3 to C4 after that date.

For a small HMO created by changing a dwelling from C3 to C4 after 6 December 2019 without planning permission, the council issues a conditional one-year licence, giving the landlord 12 months to resolve the planning position.

The Redbridge Landlord Licensing Guide covers Section 257 classification, the building-level vs flat-level licence decision, and the full application process with fees for converted buildings in Redbridge.

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