The new Warrington HMO Article 4 restriction is separate from the Central Six Direction reported yesterday. Together, the two instruments bring house-to-small-HMO conversions across the borough into the planning application process.
Owners outside the Central Six do not have a further year to complete a conversion under the withdrawn right. The restriction is already operating while the council consults on whether to confirm it.
Two Directions, not a rewritten Central Six scheme
The new Warrington HMO Article 4 Direction was made under the council’s common seal on 25th September 2026. Its Second Schedule describes the area as the land edged red on its plan, excluding the Central Six wards edged black.
Those excluded wards are Orford, Poplars and Hulme, Fairfield and Howley, Latchford East, Latchford West, and Bewsey and Whitecross. They are covered by the earlier, non-immediate Direction, which also became operative on 25th September.
The distinction matters. The earlier Direction was made in September 2025 and confirmed in May 2026. The new instrument withdraws the right in additional areas; it is not simply confirmation of the first one.
Planning Geek’s Central Six report concerns that earlier instrument.
What the Warrington HMO Article 4 changes
The right withdrawn is Class L(b) of Part 3 of the GPDO: changing a Class C3 dwellinghouse into a Class C4 house in multiple occupation.
It is not a ban on new HMOs. It means proposals that previously qualified for that permitted development route now need a planning application, allowing the council to assess their effects.
The Direction does not, simply by taking effect, undo an existing lawful HMO use.
Explaining the wider controls in the council’s announcement, Councillor John Kerr-Brown said:
“These new controls give us greater powers to manage HMO development across Warrington”
The council says it wants to address parking pressure, noise and concentrations of shared housing while giving communities outside the central wards the same protection.
Comments are open, but the restriction has started
Representations on the immediate Direction must reach the council by 19th October 2026. Comments can be emailed to [email protected] with “HMO consultation” as the subject.
The legal documents say the Direction will expire on 25th March 2027 unless confirmed. Consultation therefore concerns a restriction already in force, not a proposal awaiting its start date.
Immediate withdrawal can also expose a council to compensation claims. It does not automatically entitle every affected owner to payment: a qualifying application for the formerly permitted development must be made within the relevant 12-month window, followed by refusal or qualifying conditions, and an attributable loss must be proved.
For this Direction, that application window begins on 25th September 2026. Planning Geek’s Article 4 compensation guide explains the separate requirements.
How Warrington got to borough-wide control
The immediate Warrington HMO Article 4 Direction is the second stage of a policy which began with the Central Six. Those wards were singled out first because the council’s evidence showed the highest prevalence of HMOs there. In April 2026 the council announced that it wanted to extend the same planning control to the rest of Warrington, and Cabinet approved that wider approach in June.
The result is an unusual two-track start on the same date. The Central Six Direction had already gone through its 12-month notice period. The rest-of-borough Direction was instead made with immediate effect on 25th September, so there was no equivalent lead-in period for landlords outside those six wards.
Councillor John Kerr-Brown said the council was responding to concerns about parking, noise and concentrations of shared housing. He added that residents had raised concerns before and said: “We’ve listened, and this change puts power back in the hands of our communities.”
The council has also adopted a new HMO Supplementary Planning Document, setting out how applications will be assessed. The Article 4 Direction does not determine those applications in advance, but it means the council now gets to make that planning judgement before a qualifying C3 house becomes a small C4 HMO.
What happens next
The immediate Warrington HMO Article 4 Direction remains subject to the statutory confirmation process. Representations close on 19th October 2026 and Warrington says it will publish a further notice before 25th March 2027 stating whether it has been confirmed.
Until then, the important practical point is that the restriction is already operating. A qualifying conversion in the newly covered area now needs planning permission even though consultation is continuing.
Existing lawful HMOs are not retrospectively cancelled
The immediate Direction changes the planning position for future C3 to C4 conversions in the newly covered area. It does not, by itself, turn an HMO which was already lawfully in Class C4 into an unlawful use or require an existing lawful HMO to revert to a dwellinghouse.
That distinction is important for owners looking at the start date. Under the Warrington HMO Article 4 controls, from 25th September a qualifying new conversion in the remainder of the borough cannot simply rely on Class L(b). It must go through the planning application process, where Warrington can apply its development plan and the newly adopted HMO guidance to the proposal.
The council’s 25th September announcement confirms the two-Direction arrangement, while its Article 4 page carries the legal documents and consultation details.
Primary sources: sealed immediate Direction and map; formal notice;
0 Comments