Well I have to say there are so many of you that ask me various questions about planning
and how to go about it.

Its clear to me that sometimes we are a little too quick to seek planning for a project without checking
the viability.

Also why did one of my clients the other day want to arrange planning by discussion with a planning officer?
Well I stopped him straight away !

The first reasoning on this is that a lot of people think that the local authorities are the experts in the area.
Well surely I suggested that the experts in the are were the locals?
Those people that let/manage build are architects  or Surveyors these are the people who make such a difference to your world.

So an example 3 bed house – convert this to 3 1 bed flats

1. Is there a demand for 1 bed flats in the area ? If its a family area or the demand is for
2 to 3 bed family type dwellings then you should go with the demand.

2 Would the property be better off as an HMO? Some areas are low cost so renting a 1 bed flat
may well be a no no in situations like this . However a buoyant student or LHA demand  may exist

3. What about your local neighbours? Whats their opinion?

4. Don’t assume a high percentage of permissions will allow you to succeed . I do know of a council who changed their policy after flooding their area with HMO’s and then disallowing them a few months later because of saturation.

So should your  plan be to convert into flats, HMO’s or what?

As usual you need to crunch the numbers  but as you crunch the numbers just remember to get
your figures into practical usage there has to be a demand in the area.

If you have concerns of how to proceed with planning and strategy in your  area please email me on info@barrydanser.com with your telephone number to see if I can help

Barry Danser