Former Bank To Eleven-Bed HMO And Shop
Cheddar, Somerset
A former high-street bank, now acquired, tested for a mixed-use scheme that keeps the shopfront working and puts eleven en-suite rooms above it.
Feasibility In Brief
The Brief
Could a former Lloyds Bank in a village centre become an HMO without losing the shop the neighbourhood plan protects?
What We Found
Yes, as a mixed use rather than a straight conversion. The 45.2 sqm Class E unit stays in place at the Bath Street frontage, with an eleven-bed sui generis HMO above and behind it across ground, first, second and a new mansard at third floor. Rooms run from 10 sqm in the mansard to 22 sqm on the ground floor. The first floor communal kitchen and lounge is 27.5 sqm, meeting the standard for the seven to ten person bracket, with a smaller 10 sqm kitchen on the mansard serving the upper cluster. The principle of residential conversion is already established by an existing prior approval, and the rear car park takes the highways question off the table.
Our Recommendation
Proceed as a mixed use, retaining the shop. There is direct precedent for the approach in similar Somerset villages.
The Proposed Layout
Eleven en-suite bedrooms across four levels above and behind a retained 45.2 sqm shop, with the main communal kitchen and lounge on the first floor.
What The Client Received
Feasibility Overview
The proposed design, planning route, key constraints, commercial position and a clear Go or No-Go recommendation.
Planning Research & Risk Analysis
Site-specific policy research, planning precedents, appeal decisions and a risk register with cost implications.
Space & Standards Review
Bedroom, amenity, ceiling-height, kitchen and facility requirements checked room by room against the design.
These are real client reports, so they are not published here.
Official guidance reviewed: Cheddar Neighbourhood Plan, Policy EE1
The Decision
A clear route forward before purchase.
The principle is already established and the highways question is answered. The mixed use is designed around the neighbourhood plan's protection of the ground floor shop rather than against it.
Recommended roadmap
- 01Measured survey
- 02Heritage statement
- 03Pre-application advice
- 04Full planning application
- 05Technical design
- 06Construction
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