Article 4 Direction withdrawing Class L(b) permitted development right for change of use from dwellinghouses (Use Class C3) to small HMOs (Use Class C4) in the wards of Streatham Common & Vale and Streatham St Leonard’s (2024)

With effect from 01 October 2010, the Government introduced a new permitted development right allowing the change of use from residential (Use Class C3) to small Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) (Use Class C4). 

The permitted development right means that it is possible to make a change of use from self-contained residential to small HMO without the need to apply to the local planning authority for planning permission.

On 7 August 2024, the Council made a non-immediate Article 4 Direction withdrawing the Class L (b) permitted development right within the wards of Streatham Common & Vale and Streatham St Leonard’s. 

On 24 July 2025, the council decided to confirm the Article 4 Direction . The Direction came into force on 11 August 2025. 

Relevant documents: