Fire doors needed for HMO licence application or renewal in London
Fire doors needed for HMO licence application or renewal? Here's what it usually means — and how we help across London.
If you're reading this, chances are your council's already told you - either as part of a new HMO licence application or a renewal - that the fire doors in the property need to meet a certain standard before they'll sign it off. Maybe it's come up after an inspection. Maybe a broker or managing agent flagged it before you'd even applied. Either way, you're now looking at every door in the house wondering which ones pass and which ones don't.
It's one of the most common reasons landlords across London call a fire door company in the first place - not a fire, not an incident, just a licence sitting on hold because the doors aren't right.
What it might mean
Every council sets its own licensing conditions, so what's required in one borough might differ slightly from the next - but most set out that habitable rooms in a licensable HMO need FD30S fire doors, and some extend that to communal areas and kitchens too.
A few things commonly turn up when we look at HMO stock. The doors currently fitted might be standard household doors with no fire rating at all - very common in Victorian and Edwardian conversions across inner London, where a house was split into bedsits decades ago and the doors were never upgraded. Or there might be fire doors already in place that have been modified since - a cat flap cut in, a lock changed, a strip removed to stop it catching on the frame - which can affect whether the door still does what it's meant to do. None of this is certain until someone's actually looked at each door in position. What looks fine from the landing isn't always fine once you check the ironmongery, the seals, and the gaps.
How urgent is it?
This isn't a same-day emergency in the way a smoke-logged corridor is. It's planned work, tied to a licence deadline you can usually see coming. But don't let that "planned" label make you complacent - operating an HMO without the licence you need is a criminal offence, and it carries unlimited fines. Tenants in an unlicensed property can also apply for a rent repayment order covering up to twelve months' rent. Landlord insurance may not respond well to an unlicensed HMO either.
So - no, you don't need someone round tonight. But you shouldn't be sitting on this for weeks once the council's flagged it. The sooner the doors are surveyed against the actual licence conditions, the more time you've got to get quotes, get the work booked, and get it done before the deadline bites.
What you can safely check
Start with your own council's licensing conditions - don't assume they're the same as the borough next door, because they're often not. Note exactly how many rooms need fire doors, and whether kitchens or communal hallways are included in that count. Check whether the condition specifies FD30 or FD30S - the S means smoke seals, and it's not always the same requirement.
What you shouldn't do is start fitting intumescent strips yourself or swapping door handles for something that "looks about right." A fire door is a tested assembly - leaf, frame, seals, hinges, closer, all working together - and changing one part without knowing the spec can take a compliant door out of compliance. You can't certify a fire door from a DIY job, and the council inspector won't take your word for it either.
What we check
A proper survey starts with the actual wording of your licence conditions - what the council's asking for, room by room. From there it's a case of going through every required door position: is it a fire door at all, is the rating right, are the intumescent strips and smoke seals intact, does the self-closer work properly, are the gaps within tolerance for that doorset's test evidence. Some doors will pass with minor upgrades - a new strip, a replacement closer, better hardware. Others won't be salvageable and need replacing outright.
Once that's done you get a specification and a written quote that matches what the licence actually requires - not guesswork, not over-specifying to be safe. If you want that laid out clearly before you commit to anything, a proper fire door inspection is where it starts.
How it's fixed
Most HMO fire door jobs land in one of a few camps: full FD30S installation where the existing doors are non-rated timber doors, retrofitted intumescent strips and smoke seals where the door itself is sound but the extras are missing, or a straight swap of the self-closer and ironmongery where that's what's letting the door down. We handle fire door installation, upgrades and repairs as separate jobs where that makes sense, or as one project where the whole flat needs bringing up to standard.
This kind of licensing-driven upgrade work is bread-and-butter for anyone doing fire door services in London - the boroughs vary in their exact wording, but the pattern of ageing conversion stock needing a proper look before licensing is consistent right across East London, South East London and beyond.
Call now if your licence application's already been refused or flagged pending fire door works, or if a renewal deadline is close and you haven't had the doors surveyed yet. If you've got more time before renewal, get the survey booked anyway - it's better to know what you're dealing with early than find out at the last minute that half the doors need replacing, not just a strip and a seal.
Fancy Knowing What Shape Your Doors Are Really In?
Whether it's a Victorian conversion in North London with a flat entrance door that was never fire-rated in the first place, or a post-war estate in East London where the closers have stopped working properly, guesswork isn't good enough anymore. Get us in for a survey and we'll give you a written quote setting out exactly what needs doing and why. No pressure, just a clear picture of where you stand against Regulation 10.
Ready for a Straight Fire Door Quote?
Whether it's a converted terrace in East London or a 1960s block in South East London, the next step's the same - get someone competent to look at the doors and tell you plainly what's compliant and what isn't. We'll survey what you've got, put it in writing, and quote for the remedial works needed. No guesswork, no vague promises - just a clear report and a fixed price to work from.