Article 4 HMO rules in Ealing

On 30 October 2024 Ealing made an immediate Article 4 for Perivale ward and a non-immediate Article 4 for the rest of the borough, excluding Perivale and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) administrative area inside Ealing. Both withdraw the permitted development right to change a dwellinghouse (C3) to a small HMO (C4). The immediate Perivale direction came into force on 30 October 2024. The non-immediate direction came into force on 14 November 2025.

Source: Ealing — Article 4 Directions to remove HMO permitted development rights.

Ealing defines the HMOs covered as small shared houses occupied by between three and six unrelated individuals as their only or main residence who share basic amenities such as a kitchen or bathroom. New HMOs with more than six unrelated individuals already needed a planning application, and the Article 4s do not change that. Once each direction is in force, the development described cannot proceed in the mapped area without planning permission from the council.

Ealing publishes the directions, maps of the areas covered, and site notices from the same Article 4 landing page. Those documents are the place to check whether an address sits in Perivale, in the wider borough direction, or in excluded OPDC land. Do not collapse the two force dates into a single borough cut-over when dating a sale pack. Background: Article 4 direction.

Article 4 is planning control. Ealing’s additional HMO licensing and amenity standards remain separate Housing Act duties. A permission does not create a licence. Sale and listing: Sell an HMO in Ealing · HMOs for sale in Ealing.

English local planning authorities use Article 4 directions to remove Class L permitted development for C3 to C4 changes in mapped areas. Scotland and Northern Ireland use different HMO statutes without this tool, and Wales already requires planning permission for house to small-HMO change. Ealing’s staggered immediate and non-immediate pair is a useful contrast with single-date city-wide directions.