HMO Officer vs Building Control (Loft Insulation)

The HMO Officer and Building Control can sometimes have opposing views when it comes to HMO conversions.

In this instance, the property investor wanted to convert a terraced house into a 6-bed HMO in Stoke on Trent.

The crucial bit here is that the property in question has an EXISTING LOFT CONVERSION with a roof that is in a very poor state.

On the one hand, Building Control state that because the property has an existing loft conversion, we do not need to add insulation to improve the thermal value in any way.

Whereas the HMO Officer insists that we DO need to improve the thermal values for the sake of the tenants and we CANNOT leave the property in its current state.

And so we needed a compromise.

As a building team that deal with HMO conversions and refurbishments on a day-to-day basis, this was a new situation even to us.

Our advice for any property investor wanting to convert to HMO is to ALWAYS consult BOTH Building Control AND the HMO Officer before continuing with your HMO conversion.

They're on your side and they want things doing properly. But sometimes there are grey areas that need to be addressed.

In this particular instance, had we not have consulted the HMO Officer and acted on what we were initially told by Building Control, our client – the property investor – would have been left with a shiny new refurbishment that would actually have been inhabitable according to the HMO Officer and the HHSRS (health and safety) regulations that they need to adhere to.

It's good to talk, folks. That's how things get resolved.

If you need help with your HMO conversion, talk to HYPE (and we'll talk to Building Control and the HMO Officer for you!)

#hmo #hmobuilder #propertyinvestment

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[drasticg]

So what will the landlord decide to do?

[simonblunden]

In practice it is difficult to upgrade insulation from beneath, particularly if there is no felt / membrane above the rafters (suggested by the damp patches you mention). You also need to be careful to avoid issues with condensation as if there are gaps in the insulation this may enable warm moist air from inside to hit an even colder surface and condense. Building control should be able to provide guidance / robust details for these considerations.