English councils are deciding nearly twice as many HMO applications as they were four years ago - and refusing a sharply rising share of them.

New research by independent data project PlanningLens reveals that decided HMO applications increased 87% between 2021 and 2025 across 144 English authorities (1,848 to 3,454), while refusals more than doubled, from 590 to 1,203. The approval rate held near 68% from 2021 to 2023, then fell three points across 2024 and 2025, with partial 2026 data running lower again at 63%.

Refusal rates vary widely from 4% (Lincoln) to 80% (Havering), while five boroughs in London refused more than half of everything they decided: Waltham Forest (75%), Croydon (65%), Brent (61%), Barnet (57%) and Haringey (51%).

Volume

However, the volume leaders are not the refusers, as Leeds, the busiest council in the table (904 decided), refused 21%, and Portsmouth (771 decided) refused 13%.

At the same time, planning restrictions on converting HMOs are spreading. No central register of Article 4 directions exists, but the NRLA estimates that 75 to 80 English local authorities have adopted them. Harrow and Warrington are the latest two councils to announce plans, both in the last few weeks.

Force

Where no Article 4 direction is in force, converting a family home to a small HMO is permitted development and never enters the planning record. It means that low application counts in non-Article 4 councils partly reflect the absence of a requirement to apply, not the absence of HMO activity, according to PlanningLens. Meanwhile, not including two big cities due to reporting issues - Liverpool (2,293 decided HMO applications) and Birmingham (993) – means the surge is further understated, adds the firm.

These figures come from a fixed panel of 144 English councils, each of which decided at least 50 HMO applications every year from 2021 to 2025.

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