Hi all,
New to the group and looking for investment properties in Southampton & Portsmouth. However, both cities have had citywide Article 4 directions in place for a number of years, meaning that planning permission is required to change a C3 house to a C4 HMO - although Southampton have added that an HMO can still benefit from Part 1 Permitted Development rights if it falls within the definition of a "dwellinghouse" (ie it affords to those who use it the facilities required for day-to-day living, and it isn't a building containing one or more flats, or a flat within an HMO).
Can anyone help answer the following questions:
Does Southampton's additional exemption clause allow the conversion of a standard 4BR residential home to a 6BR HMO without the need for planning permission? If not, is a citywide direction likely to make it more difficult to obtain permission?
Are there any attributes that may increase the chances of permission being granted (e.g. availability of off-street parking, number of similar HMOs already on the street)?
Am I right in thinking that conversions to a 7BR HMO aren't impacted as they fall under sui generis so would need permission regardless of the citywide directions?
Many thanks for any information provided,
Steve
