Photo by Jolly Property
I get asked this question a lot, and the answer varies depending on factors like your experience and project type. People often don’t know what architects do. These professionals have quite an eclectic skill set, and when it comes to HMO projects, they can offer a lot of value.
Read below or listen to the full episode on The HMO Podcast for a five-step process to help you understand how an architect can assist you with your HMO project!
This will help you be better equipped to make an informed decision about whether to engage an architect or not, and it can also help ensure that you don’t wander into the trap of trying to do too much yourself, which is a common mistake for beginner HMO investors!
1. If you need support navigating planning policy and constraints.
When it comes to HMOs, there are a number of planning policies and considerations to be aware of, including Article 4 directions, which restricts the scope of permitted development rights. You’ll also need planning permission if you want to create a HMO with seven or more bedrooms.
If you get into the nitty gritty details of planning permission, it boils down to a lot of technicalities. There are very complicated things involving dimensions, heights, angles, what’s happening next door, and what distance a potential extension will be from a boundary, And then it’s the way all of these things interact with each other as well!
It’s important to have someone on your team who really understands the intricacies of planning policy. The better skilled your team is at understanding all of the technicalities and being able to navigate this planning minefield, the easier you’ll find it. And you’ll also spend less time trying to work your way through it and lower the risk.
Planning and the risks associated with that is one of the biggest challenges if you’re buying a property that’ll ultimately need planning permission. But good architects can provide insight on key issues, allow you to be aware of certain constraints from the outset, and help you construct a project that’ll be less contentious and ideally easier for the council to approve.
Sometimes you might need a good planning consultant on your team as well. But a good architect who has a lot of experience doing this will immediately know what you should be looking out for!
2. If you want to optimise floor plans and space.
A lot of us are probably familiar with using free tools like MagicPlan to help you redesign floor plans yourself. While it can give you a rough indication of what you can get in a property, that’s only a fraction of what floorplan and space optimisation actually involves!
Where you put certain things like bathrooms and ensuites and how you lay the space out can heavily influence what your redevelopment costs are going to be. For example, stacking bathrooms above and below one another will be much easier and cheaper than scattering them all around the house.
A good architect will also be mindful about what your budget and time constraints are. They can help reduce the workload and the other risks associated with whatever it is you ultimately decide to do with your HMO project.
Additionally, architects will make sure you’re getting the absolute best use of space. Not just maximising the number of units but getting the best flow and functionality to that whole space. These professionals can even help you understand what your tenants want and need to help ensure they actually enjoy living there.
The accuracy of measurements and dimensions is also incredibly important. A few centimetres here or there when it comes to getting onsite and moving walls or deciding where things go, can be major. You might end up having to pay extras to your contractors or do things different to your original plan.
So, the more accurate your measurements, dimensions, floor plans and optimisation studies are, the easier the ongoing steps are going to be for everybody – your builder but not least yourself!
3. If you need help with accurately budgeting and costing projects.
This is especially challenging for new investors. I remember how difficult it was when I was starting out and trying to cost out a project. If you don’t have the experience, it’s pretty much like putting a finger in the air. And you can be at the mercy of whatever the builders and contractors come back with!
Having someone on your team who can help budget and cost out the project effectively is so valuable. An architect making a clear budget and an accurate schedule for the project can make it difficult for contractors to overprice anything, and it makes everything very transparent.
So, think about whether you actually have the skill, experience, or confidence to build and create an accurate schedule of works. If you miss anything, your builder or contractor will have to add extras on, and that’s where you can really get stung. This can ultimately make you run over budget and over time!
Now it’s reasonable to expect that there will be some extras that crop up. But if you’ve left out a lot of the details from your schedule, that can really cost you. Getting some support with your budgeting and costing will reduce your risk significantly.
Taking that another step further, architects can help you with tendering your job out to builders. With that detailed schedule of works, they can manage the tenders, be involved in helping you select a builder, and handle the negotiations.
4. If you need help with dealing with the intricacies of building control.
I think building control is one of the most boring elements of what we do, but we have to do it. And there are a ton of building regulations! If you’re doing structural works, creating new habitable rooms, converting garages, or going into lofts, you’re absolutely going to need building control.
With this, you might need to know what a roof construction might need to look like. There are warm and cold structures, insulation, materials you need to use, and membranes. And it’s all very technical. The scope of your project will really determine how complicated it is too.
For my large projects where we’re developing flats and converting old buildings, there’s a huge amount to do with building regulations. We go through full sets of regularised plans. We have to demonstrate everything that we’re doing, right down to sound insulation and fire separation.
There are some additional complications when you throw a change of use into the mix. If you simultaneously trigger a change of use from C3, a normal dwelling house, to C4, a HMO, while undergoing building control, that can also trigger a whole raft of additional elements that they can theoretically insist on.
What I often like to do is try to separate the two. I try to get the works done before triggering the change of use. So, I buy a normal residential dwelling and make a whole number of changes. I don’t need to tell anyone that it’s going to be a HMO, because actually I could decide that I don’t want to use it as a house share.
To do that, I get building control signed off for the things that I need. Afterwards, I can then turn it into a HMO as long as it’s permitted. But when you combine the two, it can get really complicated, and you can trip up and quite catastrophically so!
Because of these intricacies, you need a good architect on your side who can give you important foresight, caution you of certain risks, and help you do the dance around these sorts of issues. If you know about these things, there are ways of legally avoiding some of them.
5. If you need any additional value architects can provide.
There is so much additional value architects can provide. This includes creating scaled plans, which can be used for planning applications, for your builders or contractors, HMO licence applications, advertising your property, or even when applying for awards.
They can also help with project management, including dealing with the actual delivery of the project and overseeing the sign-off of works, payments, contracts, and certification. This can ensure you get the paperwork right and manage contractors in the right way!
On top of that, you can get interior design services from many architects. They can help you decide where your furniture will go, where it’ll come from, and what the overall concept of the property will be.
If you’re not good at this and you want to be competitive, you need to have incredibly well-designed properties. And an interior design service can piggyback off everything an architect has already done.
If you’re not very experienced, lenders have become increasingly interested in where you get your numbers and who’s supporting you. Using the right people and having things that you can present to them will help you justify what you’re proposing to do. So, by working with an architect, you may find it easier to get finance too!
Concluding Thoughts
As a HMO investor, it’s okay to not be an expert in these areas. A good architect can ensure you get the help and support you need, and I’d highly recommend that you do. You’ll find that you spend a lot less time trudging through mud and have much fewer headaches and problems.
So, do you need an architect for your next HMO project? The answer is probably yes if you’ll be dealing with a change of use, doing any structural changes, or want to change the floor plan of the property. But if you’re doing very minor changes, you might not need one.
If you’re interested in discussing your HMO design and architecture needs, contact our partner architects and interior designers Andrew and Mary here. They do a lot of work on my projects and for many people in our community, and as they’re HMO investors themselves, they can really help you maximise layout optimisation and high-end design for HMOs.
To start, scale and systemise your HMO business, sign up for The HMO Roadmap today! And if you’d like to talk to experienced HMO investors, join us over in our free Facebook Group The HMO Community.
About the Author:
Andy Graham is the founder and the lead trainer at The HMO Roadmap! He is also the co-founder of The HMO Mastermind. He writes as a regular columnist in different magazines about a variety of HMO topics and is the host of The HMO Podcast! Follow Andy on Instagram!