When The HMO Is The Wrong Answer
Croydon, South London
A feasibility that told the client not to do what they asked for, then found a route that needs no planning permission at all.
Feasibility In Brief
The Brief
The client wanted to know whether this house could become an HMO.
What We Found
It could not, and the reason is a floor area threshold rather than anything about the design. Croydon protects family homes below 130 sqm from conversion to an HMO under Policies SP2 and DM1.2 of its Local Plan, and this property is between 93 and 115 sqm, so an HMO application would be very likely to be refused. A different use answers the same building: C3(b) supported living needs no HMO licence, and the layout suits it, with five bedrooms of 11 to 18 sqm and 16 sqm of communal amenity. Permitted development rights are intact, including for a rear extension and a loft conversion.
Our Recommendation
Do not pursue an HMO. Identify and engage a care or support provider willing to operate the property as C3(b) before committing to works or to the purchase, since that is the step everything else depends on. Confirm the provider's requirements on room count, en suites and communal space, verify the floor area by measured survey, and take a specialist broker's view on end value.
The Proposed Layout
Five en-suite bedrooms of 11 to 18 sqm with a 16 sqm communal amenity space, laid out for supported living rather than as a licensed HMO.
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: Croydon HMO Standards, Housing Act 2004
The Decision
A clear route forward before purchase.
A clear no on the HMO, and a route that works in its place. The value of the study was in finding the threshold before the client bought the building, not after.
Recommended roadmap
- 01Engage a support provider
- 02Confirm provider requirements
- 03Measured survey
- 04Broker view on end value
- 05C3(b) lawful development certificate
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