Is this postcode inside an Article 4 Direction area?
Find out before you buy: does converting to an HMO here need full planning permission? Point-in-polygon check against every Article 4 area councils have published to planning.data.gov.uk.
Free teaser, no sign-up · Try NE2 2AL (Newcastle HMO Article 4) or SW1A 1AA (Westminster, non-HMO direction)
What an Article 4 Direction means for an HMO
Normally you can change a house (Use Class C3) into a small HMO for 3–6 unrelated people (Use Class C4) without a planning application — it is permitted development under Schedule 2 Part 3 Class L of the GPDO 2015. A council can remove that right for a defined area with an Article 4 Direction. Inside such an area you must apply for planning permission, and most of those councils also cap HMO concentration.
Convert without permission inside an Article 4 area and the council can serve an enforcement notice requiring you to stop — with the property already bought and refurbished.
What you get
- Free: whether the postcode point sits inside any Article 4 area, how many, and their names.
- Paid report (£14.99): every direction with the permitted development rights it removes (where the council has itemised them), dates and council reference as published, the council's direction document where one is linked, the HMO planning route for this council, and a dated PDF. Anything the data does not contain is marked "not checked" or "not itemised" — never reported as "none".
Councils with an HMO Article 4
AdurAshfordBarking and DagenhamBarnetBasingstoke and DeaneBirminghamBlackpoolKing's Lynn and West NorfolkBrentBristolBroadlandBuckinghamshireBurnleyBuryCalderdaleCambridgeCamdenCannock ChaseCanterburyCastle PointCentral BedfordshireChelmsfordCheltenhamCotswoldIsles of ScillyCoventryCrawleyDartfordDoncasterDorsetDoverEast CambridgeshireEast HampshireEast Riding of YorkshireEnfieldEpsom and EwellExeterFarehamFenlandForest of DeanGatesheadGloucesterGreat YarmouthHaltonHaringeyHarlowHartHavantHillingdonHorshamHounslowHuntingdonshireIpswichKensington and ChelseaKingston upon ThamesLake District National ParkLambethLeedsLeicesterLewishamLiverpoolMaidstoneMedwayMilton KeynesNew ForestNew Forest National ParkNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle-under-LymeNorth LincolnshireNorth NorfolkNorth SomersetNorth TynesideNorth WarwickshireNorthumberlandOxfordPeak District National ParkPeterboroughPlymouthRochdaleRossendaleRother (Bexhill)SalfordSandwellSefton (Southport)South CambridgeshireSouth GloucestershireSouth NorfolkSouth StaffordshireSouthamptonSouthwarkSpelthorneSt AlbansStaffordStevenageStockportStoke-on-TrentSwaleTandridgeTewkesburyThanetTorbayTower HamletsUttlesfordWaltham ForestWaverleyWest BerkshireWest OxfordshireWestminsterWiltshireWirralWorthingYork