Student landlords target B&Bs to beat planning problems

Student landlords are cashing in on struggling bed & breakfast hotels as new letting properties. Small hotels are facing a financial crisis as business dries up, forcing many to close. But their properties offer student landlords several advantages - especially in council areas where planning permission is required for new houses in multiple occupation (HMOs): • Bed & breakfasts already have use similar to an HMO, and although they are a different planning class, switching to an HMO does not involve the same issues as converting a home in a residential neighbourhood • The properties generally already have fire safety measures installed • Parking is not an issue unless the property is extended as use is already established • Properties are generally located in town centres and close to good transport connections One city where student landlords are cashing in on the financial problems of small hotels is Chester. Two hotels on the city’s Hoole Road have been snapped up with a view to converting in to student housing. Hoole Road is a main route in to the city centre and is lined with bed & breakfast accommodation. Alton Lodge Hotel has applied for planning permission to provide 21 en suite student rooms with communal facilities. English in Chester, a language school, is looking to convert The Glann Hotel, in to 10 bedrooms for adult students. Although Chester City Council is seeking to tighten controls on HMOs, the local university is expanding at a fast rate and is appealing for local landlords to offer more accommodation for students. For many landlords, the argument is that switching a hotel from a bed & breakfast to student accommodation is not a change that planners can easily reject - and is likely to be upheld by a planning inspector. The alternative for areas with large numbers of small hotels is empty buildings lining the streets as businesses close. Owners tried for around two years to sell Glann Hotel without success and the language school was the only interested buyer when the property was entered in to an auction.

Landlord blog

Siobhan Smith

Further reading

Concerns as the surge in Chinese students doesn’t match current PBSA performance

University flats rented out to non-students making £100 million

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