Frequently Asked Questions

An HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) is a property rented out by three or more unrelated people who share common facilities such as a kitchen, living space or bathroom.

In practice, this means instead of one household renting a full home, each individual rents their own private bedroom while sharing communal spaces. HMOs have become a popular and socially normal way for young professionals to live, as they offer modern accommodation at a more accessible cost than renting a one-bedroom flat on their own.

When they are designed and managed to a high standard, HMOs provide not just affordability but also convenience, community and a higher-quality living environment. Our focus is on premium HMOs, which offer high-spec finishes, contemporary interiors and professional management to ensure a comfortable, well-maintained and well-run living experience.

At the quality end of the market, no. Demand for well-managed, modern HMO rooms is increasing, driven particularly by young professionals who prefer the value, comfort and community that shared living provides.

We are not only seeing new tenants moving into the areas we operate in and choosing HMOs as their first choice of accommodation, but also tenants who are actively moving up from lower-quality HMOs.

These are people leaving properties with dated interiors, poor management, or shared bathrooms to upgrade into higher-spec, en-suite rooms like the ones we create.

Alongside this, rising rents in the one-bed flat market mean many single occupants are now choosing to move into premium shared housing to maintain their standard of living at a more reasonable cost.

At the same time, many accidental landlords are selling due to tax pressure, regulation changes and increased operational requirements. This is reducing the amount of rental stock available, while institutional and deliberate landlords continue to operate at full occupancy.

In effect, supply of quality HMOs is decreasing while demand is increasing. Because we operate at the top of the market in terms of finish and management, this positions us very strongly and is why we do not foresee any saturation risk in the near or medium term.

If purchasing entirely in cash, expect to need £550,000–£560,000.

If using bridging finance, it is possible to complete a project from around £150,000–£160,000, depending on the purchase price.

However, we recommend investors have around £200,000 available to comfortably cover the deposit, legal & professional fees, planning & architecture, refurbishment costs & contingencies.

Our HMOs are designed for and marketed primarily to young professionals. We do not typically operate in the student market, which is heavily served by purpose-built student accommodation near universities, nor do we specialise in social housing or supported accommodation, which require different operational models and more intensive management.

Young professionals offer the best balance of stable tenancy duration, lower wear-and-tear, reliable rental income, and steady year-round demand.

They choose HMOs because they provide high-quality living spaces, a sense of community, and significantly better value compared to renting a one-bed apartment on their own.

From the moment we identify and secure a suitable property, the full process typically takes around six months. This includes acquisition, planning, architectural design, licensing (where required), full refurbishment and final interior dressing.

We manage the entire lifecycle end-to-end, from the initial sourcing right through to the point where the property is fully completed, furnished and tenanted.

Our systems, contractor relationships and project management processes are designed specifically to ensure that timelines are controlled, communication is clear, and the investor experience is smooth and hands-off throughout. While no development timeline can ever be guaranteed to the exact day, our typical project duration is consistently around the six-month mark.

Yes — we actively encourage it. We regularly invite prospective and current investors to visit existing or live projects at different stages of construction.

Seeing the properties in person allows you to understand the standard of specification, the quality of workmanship, and the level of care that goes into every detail.

It also gives you the chance to meet us face-to-face, ask questions, and build confidence in both the process and the partnership. Most clients find that visiting a project brings everything to life and provides the final level of assurance before moving forward.

Our architect and planning partners are extremely experienced, and we follow a detailed pre-acquisition due diligence process to ensure that each property meets planning criteria before any purchase takes place.

However, in the unlikely scenario that planning was refused, the property would be resold as a high-quality family home and the investor’s capital would be returned.

Our priority is always the investor relationship and achieving the intended outcome.

Should planning be refused, we would immediately work with the investor to source a new suitable property and agree an appropriate revised fee structure for the second acquisition. To date, we have never had planning refused on any HMO project in our pipeline.

The Renters Reform Bill gives tenants additional rights, but these rights largely align with the way we already operate. We maintain our properties to a high standard and treat tenants with respect, so the changes do not require us to alter how we work.

The landlords who will be most impacted are those who provide poor-quality housing or rely on outdated management practices. Our tenant turnover is generally natural and lifestyle-based (for example, tenants moving in with partners, changing jobs, or buying their own homes), meaning forced evictions are extremely rare.

In fact, the bill may strengthen our position in the market, as weaker landlords who cannot operate to a high standard are likely to exit, increasing demand for well-run, high-quality HMOs like ours.