Birmingham HMO amenity standards
Birmingham’s additional HMO licensing conditions restate England’s prescribed bedroom floors and refuse to count space under 1.5 m ceiling height. Planning policy DM11 uses different bedroom figures for new HMO proposals.
Licensing bedroom floors in the conditions PDF
Birmingham’s additional HMO licensing conditions require sleeping rooms of at least 6.51 m² for one person over 10, 10.22 m² for two people over 10, and 4.64 m² for one child under 10. Any room under 4.64 m² must not be used as sleeping accommodation. Those figures match the national mandatory conditions and are written into the city’s additional licensing schedule.
Source: Birmingham — Additional HMO licensing conditions (PDF).
Ceiling height and communal space
Condition text states that any area where the ceiling height is less than 1.5 m cannot be counted towards the minimum room size. Communal space elsewhere in the HMO cannot make up a shortfall in a small bedroom. Measure usable floor only, then compare the result with the licensed occupancy.
Planning sizes are a separate track
Birmingham’s HMO planning material around Policy DM11 expects single bedrooms of at least 7.5 m² and doubles of at least 11.5 m² for conversions and new HMOs, plus communal living, washing facilities and outdoor amenity space. Those planning figures are higher than the licensing floors and apply when permission is needed. Do not quote DM11 sizes as if they were the licensing test on an already-lawful C4 house.
Using standards when selling
A Birmingham sale pack should carry the measured schedule, the licence conditions PDF and any planning permission that locked in DM11 sizes. Buyers price occupancy risk from both regimes. Exit route: Sell an HMO in Birmingham.
England note
Licensed English HMOs share the 2018 bedroom floors; Birmingham’s conditions PDF is a city-level restatement of that floor plus the 1.5 m ceiling carve-out. Planning amenity standards can sit higher still. Overview: HMO standards.
Frequently asked questions
What licensing bedroom floors does Birmingham write down?
6.51 m² for one person over 10, 10.22 m² for two over 10, and 4.64 m² for one child under 10, with rooms under 4.64 m² barred from sleeping use.
Can communal space rescue a small bedroom?
No. Birmingham’s conditions say communal space cannot compensate for rooms smaller than the prescribed minimum, and space under 1.5 m ceiling height does not count.
Are planning bedroom sizes the same?
No. DM11 planning guidance expects at least 7.5 m² single and 11.5 m² double bedrooms for HMO proposals, which is a different control from licensing.
Where is the official conditions PDF?
On Birmingham City Council’s download for additional HMO licensing conditions.
What belongs in a Birmingham standards pack?
Measured rooms, the licence, the conditions PDF and any planning decision that imposed DM11 space standards.