Which is more Preferable in an HMO: En-Suite Bathrooms or Bigger Bedrooms?
If you're thinking about converting a property into a House of Multiple Occupation (a HMO), you're going to have to think hard about the layout of the house. Today, we're looking at en-suite bathrooms and at whether or not it's worth sacrificing some of the bedroom space to have them included in your HMO design.
Article updated: September 2025
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by Robert Jones, Founder of Property Investments UK
With two decades in UK property, Rob has been investing in buy-to-let since 2005, and uses property data to develop tools for property market analysis.
How Big Should HMO Bedrooms Be?
It sounds obvious, but when it comes to HMOs, it's best to provide the largest room sizes that you can in the constraints of the building (for example, some larger Edwardian terrace homes will be great for converting to large bedroom sizes) and the constraints of your budget, making sure you can keep your total investment and rental running costs down.
There are a lot of HMO providers that cram in as many bedrooms as they can possibly fit into a property. The downside to this strategy is that those rooms are not going to appeal to the best professional tenants over the long term.
There are also minimum room standards outlined by the Government, including.
The minimum sleeping room floor area sizes are:
- 6.51 m2 for one person over 10 years of age
- 10.22 m2 for two persons over 10 years
Here is an insight into the UK Government minimum room size standards.
So the minimum that a bedroom should be is six and a half square metres. This is so long as it is a square or a rectangle. If it's this size but is an unusual shape or has a chimney space built into it, then it's not going to work so well. It's got to have a usable six and a half metres of floor space to get a decent bedroom out of it, and built-in cupboards and wardrobes will also limit and restrict this.
Useable floor space is the key, and although this is the minimum, this is quite small, so it is encouraged to increase this where possible and future-proof for any future legislation changes.
What you don't want to happen is for legislation to change, and then you lose a bedroom. This can really impact your returns, so try and plan for the future and offer the best-sized rooms you can.
If your HMO is in an apartment, this will also be limited by the minimum apartment size standards, with no option to extend the rooms, so this is why you often see Houses of Multiple Occupation working best for conversions from older style Edwardian and Victorian houses.
When to Consider En-Suite Bathrooms for your HMO?
Whether or not you install an en-suite bathroom as part of the bedroom depends on how large the room is and do you have the budget. If your budget is stretched, then consider adding lower-cost additional features like providing a tv for your HMO with an upgraded tv entertainment and sound system for the lounge, instead of an expensive en-suite install.
There are lots of features you can consider instead of adding en-suites where the budget is stretched, like simple improvements to the feel and the interior design of your house.
Adding en-suite bathrooms often falls under permitted development guidelines, meaning you won't need planning permission for these internal alterations, though you should verify this applies to your specific property.
Remember, do not install an en-suite; if doing so pushes the room size right down to that minimum of six and a half square metres.
The truth is that most tenants would prefer a double room with a double bed. So, if you sacrifice this for a single bed with an en-suite, you might be making the room less desirable rather than more so.
Ideally, what you want to end up with is a minimum of eight to ten square metres for a double room. If there is some excess over that, then that is when you should start thinking about an en-suite bathroom.
How Many En-Suite Bathrooms Should You Have in Your HMO?
When it comes to designing the space in your HMO you should be putting the needs of your tenants first. You don't want them falling out over access to the facilities.
So there are two things to consider when it comes to how many bathrooms you need in an HMO.
The first is thinking about what is going to be suitable for your tenants, a good rule of thumb, you should be aiming for is one bathroom per three tenants. You can have less, and this will of course, be preferred by tenants. En-suite bathrooms do count, so if you have two bathrooms in a house of four tenants, but one is an en-suite that only one tenant has access to, then this leaves one bathroom for the other three tenants.
The second is what is required of you by the latest requirements of Government health and safety. If you have a property in a mandatory or selective licensing scheme area, the local council HMO office will require an adequate number of bathrooms and cleaning facilities for the tenants, and many HMO licensing schemes require one bathroom per four tenants.
En-suite bathrooms work really well as long as you don't make too many sacrifices in order to have them. They're great but they're far from a necessity.
We have a few HMOs where we have a ration of one to four or one to three tenants per bathroom. As long as you fit within those requirements you should be ok without en suites.
Location Matters
In some locations, adding en-suite bathrooms definitely does become a priority because of what the competition is offering.
In major cities like London, there is so much competition, rents are high, and tenants expect a higher standard of facilities, so having an edge like an en-suite can really help.
In student cities like Nottingham, you may be competing against a lot of purpose-built student accommodation where the bedrooms all have en-suites but have smaller bedroom spaces, and you may choose to offer a different path to students with the largest bedroom sizes possible.
If, however, your property is in an area of very few professional HMOs , there is not much competition and your tenants are choosing between renting their own house or sharing accommodation, then simply keeping their renting costs down and providing larger bedrooms can be the win.
If this is the case, you don't have to cram en-suite bathrooms into smaller rooms just to give them more appeal.
There are plenty of other ways to make your HMOs stand out. The best strategy is to plan for providing the right service and homes for what the tenants want in your local area, that will help encourage the longest ASTs and tenant stays.