Nine-Bed HMO Conversion
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
A town-centre house tested for a large HMO. The scheme reached nine generously sized en-suite rooms while staying ahead of the refusal patterns seen locally.
Feasibility In Brief
The Brief
How many bedrooms will this town centre building actually support, and where is the ceiling?
What We Found
Nine bedrooms are achievable at feasibility stage, all en suite and generously sized at 12 to 16 sqm, with about 25 sqm of communal amenity in total, which exceeds the minimum identified in recent officer reports. Local precedent is strong: several seven and eight bedroom HMOs have been approved in the area, confirming larger schemes are acceptable in principle where design and amenity standards are met. The site is not in an Article 4 area, so a six-bedroom HMO remains available under permitted development as a fallback, subject to due diligence.
Our Recommendation
Proceed at nine bedrooms, with the design worked carefully to answer overdevelopment concerns, since nine sits at the upper end of what is likely to be supported. Hold the six-bedroom permitted development route as the fallback position.
The Proposed Layout
Nine en-suite bedrooms of 12 to 16 sqm arranged across the existing floors, with about 25 sqm of shared amenity.
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.
The Decision
A clear route forward before purchase.
Nine works, and it is the ceiling rather than the comfortable answer. The scheme performs well on room sizes and amenity, but it sits at the top of what officers have supported locally, so the design has to earn it.
Recommended roadmap
- 01Measured survey
- 02Design development
- 03Pre-application advice
- 04Full planning application
- 05Technical design
- 06Construction
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