converting HMO back to a shop and flats

sabs_valap

I have seen a freehold residential property which is currently let as a HMO. The property has a ground floor access from a main commercial street. Will I be able to convert the ground floor of residential property into commercial unit for beauty therapy and top floor as residential flats. This is my first post and I am also new to the buy to let property market.So any advices will be a great help to make up my mind.

Browntoa

Yes , assuming planning permission is granted

unforeseen

You need to get change of use before thinking about pp

G_M

Has it always been an HMO or was it previously a shop? If the latter, 'change of use' back is more likely to be granted.

What did the Planners say when you asked?

lincroft1710

If it's a mixed use "messy" side street, there is a possibility the planners may wish more residential use leading to a more pleasing street scene. Only they can answer your question.

AlexMac

As others have said, you won't know til you ask your Local Planning Authority. Some of them are willing to caht infomally (my own Council n London, and a few others I've spoken to outside London) have duty Planners who are willing to chat by phone. Others might insist on a formal pre-planning application with a fee.

But either way, you can help yourself by getting your head round the Planning issues by reading on the "Planning Portal"; use Google to access it; for rcample
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/9/change_of_use/2
reads to me as if it's "Permitted Development" to turn an HMO (Planning category C3) back into a Dwelling House (C4) and vice-versa so the HMO-to-Flats idea should be OK;

The residental -to- commercial swap might require Planning Permission, however- but does it look like it used to be a commercial unit? That might make it easier (if indeed, it was ever swsitched in the 1st place!?)

In fact, when I used to work for a Housing Association, managing their Commercial Property, one of our bugbears was that the Councils locally were fixated on having more business and job-creating uses such as shops and services. So we had to build shops on the ground floor of residential units even though we didn't want to; we were really only inteterested in dwellings, and the shops were a pain in the butt, as they were in poor trading areas where it was difficult to find viable tenants. I spent most of my time chasing struggling tenants for rent, or evicting them for non payment via "peaceable re-entry"; great fun in places like Brixton's "Front Line" of Railton Road!

So do a bit of research on https://www.planningportal.co.uk/ to help you ask the right Qs of your friendly local Planning Officer!

unforeseen

Sorry but the change is from C4 to mixed use, not to C3. The change is for the whole building not just the upper floors