Houses in Multiple Occupation appear in conveyancing more often than clients realise.
Whether your buyer is an investor, a landlord expanding their portfolio, or simply someone purchasing a home that’s been used for shared living, HMOs can bring a layer of regulation, licensing and compliance that needs to be handled carefully.
This short guide breaks down what HMOs are, why they matter in a transaction, and what conveyancers should flag early.
What Is an HMO?
An HMO is a property where three or more people from more than one household live together and share basic amenities such as a kitchen, bathroom or living area. The classic scenario is student housing or young professionals sharing a home, but HMOs take many forms: converted houses, larger shared homes, bedsits or purpose-built shared accommodation. Importantly, the HMO definition is set in law, and local authorities have the power to impose additional licensing requirements depending on local issues and housing needs.
When Does an HMO Need a Licence?
Some HMOs require mandatory licensing — typically where five or more unrelated people share facilities. However, many councils also operate “additional licensing” schemes that capture smaller HMOs, and these schemes vary from area to area. A property that didn’t need a licence last year might need one now under a revised local policy. Licensing conditions often cover fire safety, room sizes, amenities, management standards and the condition of the communal areas. If a property is being sold with tenants in place, buyers may inherit a licensing requirement from day one.
How Do HMOs Appear in Searches and Planning History?
HMO licensing itself doesn’t always appear on Local Authority Searches, but planning records may show a prior change of use or HMO‑related conditions. Enforcement history can also surface through local authority enquiries. Some environmental reports highlight areas heavily populated with HMOs, while tenancy schedules and seller replies (such as TA6 or TA7 forms) may confirm whether the property has been used as an HMO. In some cases, fire risk assessments or electrical safety certificates hint at HMO occupation even when not explicitly stated.
HMO Licensing vs Planning Permission
Clients often assume that HMO licensing and planning permission are the same thing, but they’re completely separate systems with different purposes. Planning permission governs the use of the property – for example, changing from a single dwelling (C3) to a small HMO (C4), or to a larger sui generis HMO.
Licensing, on the other hand, deals with the safety, standards and management of the home, including fire measures, amenities and occupancy limits. A property can have the correct planning use but still need an HMO licence, and it’s equally possible for a property to hold a licence even though planning permission for HMO use has not been secured. The key message for clients is simple: neither system substitutes for the other, and both must be right for the tenancy to be compliant.
What Should Buyers Be Aware Of?
If a buyer intends to continue renting the property as an HMO, they must ensure that the appropriate licence is in place or be prepared to apply for one before tenants move in. Buying an unlicensed HMO can expose a new landlord to enforcement action, rent repayment orders or penalties. If the buyer intends to convert the property back to a single dwelling, they should know whether any planning changes need to be reversed. For investors, understanding local licensing schemes also matters – some councils restrict the number or density of HMOs in certain neighbourhoods.
What About Lender and Insurance Requirements?
Some mortgage lenders have specific requirements for HMOs due to the increased risk profile and management responsibilities. Specialist buy‑to‑let or HMO products may be required. Insurers may ask about occupancy levels, fire safety measures, alarms, locks and escape routes before offering cover. Ensuring clients understand this early avoids last‑minute complications when arranging finance.
HMOs add an additional regulatory layer to a transaction, but with the right due diligence, they are entirely manageable. By helping clients understand how licensing works, how it differs from planning, and what obligations they may inherit on completion, conveyancers can give clear, practical advice that reduces risk and supports confident buying decisions – whether for an investor or a first‑time landlord.
Ground instability is a quiet but important concern in conveyancing, especially in areas with historic mining, chalk or limestone geology, old quarries, or complex underground infrastructure.
While full sinkholes are rare, the underlying risks – from subsidence to unexpected voids – can affect property condition, insurability and even mortgageability. This quick blog helps conveyancers explain what ground instability means, how it relates to sinkhole formation, and what clients should be aware of when making informed decisions.
What Is Ground Instability?
Ground instability refers to movement, weakening or collapse of the ground beneath a property. It can be caused by natural geological processes, such as dissolution of soluble rocks like chalk or limestone, or by human activity, such as historical mining, tunnelling, quarrying, landfill settlement or old infrastructure failures. Some instability issues progress slowly over time, while others can develop suddenly, which is why environmental searches commonly flag increased risk zones.
How Do Sinkholes Fit Into the Picture?
Sinkholes are one of the most visible (and sometimes alarming) forms of ground instability. They occur when the ground beneath a property collapses into a void, usually created by dissolving limestone, chalk or salt deposits, or by the collapse of an unrecorded mine or man‑made cavity. While dramatic media coverage sometimes gives the impression that sinkholes are common, they remain relatively rare. However, when they do occur, they can cause serious structural damage and require major engineering work.
Where Are Instability Risks More Likely?
Risk often aligns with historic activity or local geology. Former mining areas – coal, chalk, tin, gypsum and other minerals – may contain old shafts, adits or unrecorded workings. Certain regions with limestone or chalk bedrock are naturally more prone to dissolution features. Areas with clay soils may experience shrink‑swell movement during periods of extreme weather. Urban sites built over old landfills or backfilled quarries can experience settlement. Even infrastructure such as leaking drains, broken sewers or failed soakaways can trigger localised collapse beneath driveways or extensions.
How Does This Appear in Searches?
Environmental searches typically assess ground stability risks through national databases, mining records, landfill mapping, historic land use and geological models. They may flag: potential for natural cavities; historic mining activity; known sinkhole incidents; ground that is prone to shrink‑swell clay movement; and areas where subsidence claims have been concentrated. Additional specialist searches from Landmark, such as mining reports, coal authority searches or ground stability assessments, can provide more granular detail. Conveyancers should help clients interpret the difference between a “potential risk” and an “actionable concern”.
What Should Clients Be Aware Of?
Clients should understand that a flagged ground instability risk does not automatically mean the property is unsafe. Instead, it highlights that further checks may be sensible. Clients may need to consider property age, structural history, drainage condition, and whether there have been previous insurance claims for subsidence or movement. Modern homes often incorporate foundations designed for local geology, but older properties may be more vulnerable to underlying ground changes. For planned extensions or significant landscaping, ground conditions may dictate foundation type and cost.
What About Insurance and Mortgage Lenders?
Subsidence and ground instability can influence premiums, excess levels and insurer willingness to cover certain risks. Lenders may ask for more information if a search highlights past instability or historic mining. If a survey or structural report identifies movement, buyers may need to provide additional evidence that the issue is historic, monitored, or already remediated. Promptly addressing insurer or lender queries prevents delays later in the transaction.
Ground instability and sinkhole risk are important but manageable considerations in property transactions. Most flagged risks do not result in dramatic events, but they do warrant thoughtful due diligence.
By helping clients understand the nature of local geology, historic activity and what search results really mean, conveyancers can guide them through practical next steps, whether that’s seeking a structural opinion, engaging with insurers early or simply proceeding with informed confidence.
Completion Notices are one of those planning tools that rarely appear in everyday conversation but can have a real impact on buyers, developers and anyone relying on an existing planning permission.
They’re often misunderstood, especially because the name sounds similar to completion certificates – but they are entirely different things. Here’s a quick, clear guide for clients and conveyancers on what Completion Notices are, when they’re used and why they matter in a property transaction.
What Is a Completion Notice?
A Completion Notice is issued by a local planning authority when it believes that development which has started will not be completed within a reasonable period.
The effect of the notice is to set a deadline: if the development is not finished by the date given, the planning permission will be treated as having expired for any incomplete work. In other words, the permission is “switched off” for the unfinished parts of the project. A Completion Notice does not force anyone to finish the work, it simply removes the protection of the existing planning permission after a specified date.
When Are Completion Notices Used?
Completion Notices are typically used where a planning permission has technically been implemented, but then left unfinished for months or years. Sometimes this is because the developer mothballs the project; sometimes because the property has changed hands; sometimes because the market has shifted.
Councils can issue a Completion Notice when they believe the planning permission is being kept alive without real intent to complete. It is not a punitive measure – it is a tidying-up mechanism to prevent open‑ended permissions remaining valid indefinitely.
What Does a Completion Notice Do?
The notice sets out a completion date, usually at least 12 months from the date it is served. If the work is finished by that deadline, the permission remains lawful. If not, any incomplete elements lose the benefit of that permission and future works would require a fresh application. Importantly, a Completion Notice does not affect work already lawfully completed – only the unfinished parts are at risk. This distinction matters for buyers inheriting part‑built extensions, conversions, shopfront works or redevelopment schemes.
How Do Completion Notices Affect Conveyancing?
If a property involves unfinished works or has an historic planning permission that was only partially implemented, a Completion Notice can materially affect value, development potential and mortgageability. Buyers may assume they can pick up where the previous owner left off… but a Completion Notice may limit what can still be lawfully completed without a new permission.
Lenders may also ask questions if a planning permission is close to expiry or if the remaining works are substantial. For developers purchasing stalled sites, understanding whether a Completion Notice has been issued, or could realistically be issued, is essential due diligence.
Will Completion Notices Show Up in Searches?
Completion Notices can appear in Local Authority searches when formally served, but they are not as common as enforcement notices. Sometimes the only evidence is in the planning history, which may reference a pending notice, consultation on a proposed notice or an intention to issue one. Because the effect of a Completion Notice is tied to the status of an existing planning permission, conveyancers should always check the planning timeline: When was the permission granted? Was it materially started? How much work was done? Does the council appear to consider the permission dormant?
What Should Buyers and Developers Look Out For?
Clients should be aware of any part‑built structures, groundworks or foundations that were installed solely to “keep a permission alive”. They should also understand that finishing the work may still require compliance with updated building regulations or new planning policies, even if the original permission is technically still in play. Where a Completion Notice has been served, buyers need to know the cut‑off date and whether the remaining works are realistically achievable within the timeframe. Where no notice has yet been served, but the project has been dormant for years, it’s sensible to advise that the council could tighten the timeline.
Completion Notices are a planning tool designed to bring clarity to long‑stalled developments. They don’t punish owners, and they don’t invalidate completed work – but they do remove the safety net of an old planning permission if the project isn’t finished by a specified date.
For conveyancers, the key is to spot early when a transaction involves part‑completed development, long‑dated permissions or dormant projects. A simple review of planning history and a discussion with the client can prevent surprises later and ensure they know exactly what they can – and cannot – lawfully complete after purchase.
Civil Aviation Safeguarding is one of those planning and development considerations that buyers often never hear about until it affects their extension plans, rooftop installations or redevelopment proposals.
If a property sits near an airport, aerodrome, helipad or other aviation infrastructure, safeguarding rules can influence what can be built, how tall it can be, and even whether cranes or reflective materials can be used. Here’s a clear, conveyancer-friendly overview of what safeguarding means, how it appears in searches, and what buyers need to consider.
What Is Civil Aviation Safeguarding?
Civil Aviation Safeguarding is a protective system designed to ensure that new development does not pose a risk to aircraft, airspace or aviation technology.
Areas close to airports or airfields are covered by safeguarding maps. These maps define zones where certain types of development must be assessed for height, lighting, glare, bird-attraction, interference with radar or instrument landing systems, and other aviation-related risks. Safeguarding doesn’t automatically block development… but it can trigger consultation or add constraints that buyers should be aware of.
How Does It Affect Development?
Safeguarded areas introduce limits on building height, crane use, external lighting, reflective surfaces, landscaping choices and rooftop installations. An extension, dormer window, rooftop plant, telecoms equipment or solar panel may all be checked against local safeguarding criteria. Larger developments may require formal consultation with airport operators before planning approval can be granted. Even where planning permission is ultimately granted, specific aviation-related conditions are common in safeguarding zones.
Does Safeguarding Show Up in Searches?
This is where things become important for conveyancers. The presence of a Civil Aviation Safeguarding Zone itself does not automatically create an entry in the Local Land Charges Register. However, if a specific aviation-related restriction has been formally recorded against the land – such as a protected height limit or mandatory consultation requirement – this can appear in the LLC as a Civil Aviation Charge. Not all safeguarding constraints meet the threshold for registration, so you may not always see a charge even when the property is within a safeguarded area. Because of this, planning history is often the more reliable indicator. Previous applications may include airport consultation letters, height-limit conditions, lighting controls, or notes about aviation safety. These planning records remain relevant even when no Local Land Charge exists.
So What Should Conveyancers Look For?
The key is to interpret both the LLC results and the planning history together. If the LLC includes a Civil Aviation Charge, that means a formal safeguarding restriction is registered against the land. If the LLC is silent but the property is near an airport, you should still check for planning conditions, consultation notes, crane notification requirements or design limitations in earlier applications. A lack of an LLC entry does not mean the property is unaffected – it simply means no formal land charge has been registered. Planners will still apply safeguarding rules whenever development is proposed.
How Might This Affect Clients?
For homeowners, safeguarding can influence plans for loft conversions, solar panels, roof extensions, A/C units, chimneys, or external lighting. For developers, it affects building heights, crane operations, material choices and landscaping. For both, it can mean longer planning times or the need for specialist input. It’s also worth noting that many safeguarding requirements apply during construction, meaning cranes or tall scaffolding may require notification or approval even when the finished structure is compliant.
Civil Aviation Safeguarding protects airspace and aviation operations by controlling development in sensitive areas. It does not always appear as a Local Land Charge, but when specific height or safety restrictions have been formally registered, these will show up as Civil Aviation Charges in the LLCs.
Planning history often contains the clearest evidence of safeguarding constraints, even when the LLC is silent. By checking both sources and highlighting potential aviation considerations early, conveyancers can help clients make informed decisions and avoid surprises when they come to extend, alter or develop their property.
Brownfield land is a term that comes up often during conveyancing, especially when clients are thinking about redevelopment potential or long‑term value.
It’s a simple concept on the surface, but one that’s frequently misunderstood. This short blog gives you the essentials: what brownfield land is, why it matters, and how it affects property decisions.
Wellies on, lets dive in.
What Is Brownfield Land?
Brownfield land is any site that has been previously developed. In practice, that usually means land that once hosted buildings, industry, commercial operations, infrastructure or other structures. It stands in contrast to greenfield land, which has not been built on before. Brownfield sites range from former factories and warehouses to petrol stations, abandoned yards, old institutional sites, and disused commercial plots. Crucially, brownfield does not automatically mean contaminated or unsafe – but it can raise more questions for planners, developers and lenders.
Why Isn’t Brownfield the Same as Contaminated Land?
This is where confusion often begins. Many clients assume brownfield = contaminated, but the two are not synonymous. Contamination is about pollutants or risks to health and the environment. Brownfield simply describes a site’s past use. Some brownfield plots require remediation; others are clean and ready for redevelopment. The key difference is that brownfield status triggers certain planning and due‑diligence expectations, while contamination triggers risk assessment and environmental investigation.
Why Does Brownfield Status Matter in Conveyancing?
Brownfield land can influence a buyer’s plans and a lender’s appetite. Planners often encourage reuse of brownfield land to reduce pressure on greenfield development, meaning redevelopment prospects may be better than clients expect. At the same time, a previous use (industrial or commercial, especially) may indicate the need for environmental checks, ground investigations or a closer look at historic planning records. For commercial buyers, brownfield status can shape feasibility studies, construction costs and regulatory obligations. For residential buyers, it may influence what future extensions or conversions are likely to be permitted.
How Does Brownfield Land Show Up in Searches?
Local searches do not explicitly label a site as “brownfield”, but clues appear throughout the results. Historic planning records, previous use classifications, industrial permissions, and environmental notices all help paint a picture of the site’s past. If a site is part of a local authority’s brownfield register, this may also be visible through planning portals or local development plan documents. When dealing with former industrial or utility sites, buyers may seek environmental searches, desktop risk reports or specialist assessments.
What Should Clients Be Aware Of?
If a client is buying a site for redevelopment, brownfield land can be a positive; many planning frameworks favour its reuse, and grants or local incentives may apply. However, they should also be aware of: previous foundations, buried structures, unusual ground conditions, the need for site investigations, and potential planning conditions relating to remediation. Even where contamination is unlikely, lenders sometimes require clarity or reassurance about historic use. Clear early conversations help avoid delays later.
Brownfield land isn’t a cause for alarm, it simply tells us the land has a past. For many buyers and developers, that past can unlock opportunities. For conveyancers, the key is helping clients understand what “previously developed” means in practice: where it creates potential, where it signals extra due diligence, and how it shapes the path to planning permission. By identifying early whether brownfield status is relevant, you can guide clients through the next steps with confidence.
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Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is one of the most misunderstood areas of property law – and one of the most frequently misquoted by clients.
In this special session, our Managing Director Liz Jarvis is joined by Richard Friend of 4Stamp to tackle some of the most common SDLT myths and misconceptions. From first-time buyer confusion to gifting property, mixed-use quirks and company purchases, they separate fact from fiction with clarity, context, and a few laughs along the way.
Whether you’re a seasoned conveyancer or just looking to sharpen your SDLT knowledge, this is a must-watch (or listen) for 2026.
🔍 What’s covered?
- First-time buyer relief: why it’s a one-time benefit
- Gifting property: when a mortgage triggers SDLT
- Mixed-use properties: how they’re taxed differently
- Reclaiming the 5% surcharge after selling a main residence
- Divorce exemptions, company purchases, and more
A little knowledge about SDLT can be dangerous – but 30 minutes with Liz and Richard might just save you from your next client conversation that starts with, “I read somewhere that…”
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🎧 Listen on Spotify