Plan for HMO flats above Plymouth city centre shops

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Plans have been drawn to convert rooms above a Plymouth city centre shop into housing – the latest in a series of similar moves as developers look to address the decline in retail and breathe new life into the city centre.

Plymouth City Council planners have given the nod to a pre-application inquiry to create a commercial unit on the first floor, potentially for use as a hair salon, and convert the second floor to small flats above a newly opened “American style” sweet shop on the corner of Armada Way and New George Street.

The applicant, Shir Ahmad of London-based real estate business Shir Investments Ltd, wants to create a 10-bed HMO (house in multiple occupation) on the top floor of the building, which until recently had Game as its main ground floor occupant. It is envisaged creating seven small flats, four for one person and three for couples, with shared bathrooms and kitchens.

Council planners said the proposal is acceptable in principle, with the Joint Local Plan seeking to increase the level of residential occupancy within the city centre whilst protecting retail units on lower levels.

If the development does go ahead it will add to a growing list of new uses for the upper floors of city centre buildings. Already, the 94-room OYO Plymouth Central hotel has opened above the Poundland store in New George Street.

Across the road, the 500-bed Plymouth Cross House student accommodation has been created in the upper floors of the former Derrys department store.

This comes as Premier Inn has just opened a 110-room hotel, and Thyme Bar and Grill restaurant, in the same building. It is mainly situated in what was once the Rileys snooker centre, in the Courtenay Street area.

Meanwhile, in February 2021, Property developer CPP London Properties Ltd received permission to transform the eight-story Moneycentre, close to the main university campus, from office to residential use.

The London-based company, which has a £4million mortgage on the building, is looking to cram 119 flats into the upper seven stories – that is 17 flats on each floor.

As recently as July 2021, plans were revealed to turn the former Plymouth city centre home of the Western Morning News and The Herald newspapers into an “aparthotel”.

A pre-application has been submitted by London-based property investment company RV Capital Ltd to turn the New George Street building, most recently used by bookseller Waterstones, into serviced hotel flats.

And Plymouth city centre’s huge former Debenhams department store has gone on sale for more than £3.5m and could be turned into small shops, offices – or even student flats.

Potential buyers are being told the five-storey pile is ripe for reconfiguration into a range of potential uses, including shops, a cinema, offices and co-working space, or even student accommodation.

Meanwhile, the officer’s report into the plans for 44 New George Street/124 Armada Way, which now has PLY Sweets and Gifts on the ground floor, notes that the city centre already has a number of first floor commercial units, often “hairdressers, offices or tattoo studios which rely less on active frontages to attract occupants”.

The council officer’s reports said the local authority’s preferred option would be for flats on the upper floors, but the use as a seven-bed HMO in this location is considered acceptable, with there being no other HMOs in the surrounding 100m area and therefore below the threshold set out by the council.

The officer raised some issues with the proposed entrance being tucked away at the back, and a recommendation that a communal lounge area be created, but noted that the rooms were all larger than the permitted minimum size.

But the officer did make some key recommendations including by saying: “In light of the lack of shared communal space it is recommended to consider adjusting the layout of these shared facilities to potentially create one large kitchen with a dining area within it, or creating a separate lounge, possible utilising the bin store area or including the utility room as part of the kitchen(s).

“This would help provide a good standard of amenity for occupants and help occupants spend time together and ensure upkeep of the property and resolve issues. There is no outdoor amenity space and creation of communal space is therefore considered to be an important aspect that is missing from the proposal.”

The officer’s report concluded that the proposal is acceptable in principle, but there are amendments needed “in relation to the access and layout of the HMO to provide safe access and suitable amenity for occupants”.

The report also said there may be a restrictive covenant on the property in relation to provision of residential dwellings that would have to be dealt with outside of the formal planning application process.