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Change of use & HMOs

HMOs and change of use

For landlords, investors and owners, we handle the planning for HMO conversions, changes of use and converting commercial buildings into homes.

Benjamin Plunkett, Managing Director
✓Free home visit ✓No obligation ✓Honest advice ✓Fixed price Ben, our Managing Director and Planning & Heritage Consultant, will visit your property anywhere in our six council areas.
📞 Call 01206 656027 or book online →
Floor plans for an HMO conversion

Change of use, explained

Every building has a planning "use class". Changing from one class to another can need planning permission, prior approval, or neither, depending on the change. Common examples we deal with include:

  • A family house into a small or large HMO
  • Shops, offices or pubs into homes
  • Agricultural or commercial buildings into new uses
  • Splitting a house into flats

How we help

  • Checking the route. Permitted development, prior approval or full planning permission.
  • Layouts that meet the standards. Room sizes, shared spaces, bin and cycle storage, parking and amenity space.
  • Making the case. Planning statements addressing parking, the mix of housing in the area and the effect on neighbours.
  • Licensing in mind. We design layouts with HMO licensing requirements in mind, so the planning and licensing don't conflict.

Our change of use & hmos services

HMO conversionsFind out more → Commercial to residentialFind out more →
Benjamin PlunkettCharlie Plunkett

Who'll handle your project: Benjamin Plunkett, our Managing Director and Planning & Heritage Consultant, is your point of contact from the first site visit to the decision. Charlie Plunkett MCIAT produces the drawings.

About us
Recent projects

Change of Use & HMOs projects

See more
The weatherboarded building from the garden
Change of use Tendring

Office to three-bedroom home by prior approval in Tendring

A prior approval for converting a weatherboarded office building into a three-bedroom detached home with parking and a large garden in Tendring.
Street elevation with a bay window, balcony and gabled dormer
Change of use Lowestoft

Change of use from offices to an eight-bedroom HMO

Planning permission to convert a three-storey office and training building in Lowestoft into an eight-bedroom house of multiple occupation.
The green and pink timber garden room used for dog grooming
Change of use Colchester

Garden room converted for a home dog grooming business

Planning permission to use an existing garden room in Colchester for a small, one-person dog grooming business, with customer parking on the drive.
Side elevation of the terraced house, unchanged by the proposal
Change of use Ipswich

Change of use to a small children's residential home

Planning permission to change a three-bedroom house in Ipswich into a home for up to three young people, with no change to its outside appearance.
The brick garden garage, with the glazed door to the grooming room
Change of use Colchester

Part of a garage turned into a dog grooming room

Planning permission to use the front half of a garden garage in Colchester as a small, one-person dog grooming room, while keeping the rest as a garage.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

Does a small HMO need planning permission?

A change from a house to a small HMO for three to six people is often permitted development. Some areas remove that right with an Article 4 direction, so check before buying. Larger HMOs for seven or more people need planning permission.

Is HMO licensing the same as planning?

No. Licensing is a separate housing requirement run by the council's housing team. You may need both.

Benjamin Plunkett, Managing Director
Free home visit

Thinking about a project?

Ben, our Managing Director and Planning & Heritage Consultant, will come to you, look at the property and tell you honestly what's likely to get approved. Free, with no obligation, anywhere in Tendring, Babergh, Colchester, Braintree, Maldon and Ipswich districts.

Planning consultants and chartered designers in one team: drawings designed to get approved, with the same people from site visit to decision.

Book a free home visit → Call 01206 656027
📞 CallBook a free visit