JSA Architects and British Living Group: Working Together on Derby Co-Living Development

JSA Architects is working with British Living Group on a 27-room co-living conversion in Derby - the first project in a working relationship that both parties expect to continue.

British Living Group are Nottingham-based property investors and developers with a proven track record across HMOs, purpose-built student accommodation, and land acquisition. Their 41-room student development on Ilkeston Road, Nottingham - completed and income-generating - is a reasonable indication of the scale and rigour they bring to a project. This is not a developer who needs an introduction to planning risk or viability modelling.

The Derby scheme is currently at pre-application stage. JSA is preparing a submission to Derby City Council - the right time to be having conversations about a project of this nature, and the right approach.

Why Pre-Application Matters on a Scheme Like This

Pre-application engagement with the local planning authority is not a formality. On a commercial-to-co-living conversion, it is the point at which the scheme either gets a workable planning strategy or doesn’t.

A 27-room co-living development in Derby will be assessed against Derby City Council’s housing policies, design standards, amenity requirements, and — depending on location and site context — potentially a range of material considerations specific to the area. The planning officer’s view on those issues, sought before the application is submitted, shapes everything that follows: the design approach, the technical reports required, the argument made in the planning statement, and the realistic prospects of approval.

Getting that feedback early is not caution. It is efficiency. The cost of pre-application advice is a fraction of the cost of a refused application, a revised design, and a six-month delay to programme. Developers who understand this — and British Living Group clearly do — approach planning as a strategic exercise rather than a bureaucratic one.

JSA’s role at this stage is to develop the design to a level sufficient to generate meaningful officer feedback, present the scheme in a way that addresses the policy framework directly, and use the response to refine the application before it goes in. The objective is a scheme that gets approved first time, on a programme that works for the client.

What Co-Living Requires from an Architect

Co-living sits in a specific part of the market - above a standard HMO in scale and complexity, below the full build-to-rent model in terms of unit count, but with its own distinct planning and design requirements.

Larger co-living schemes - those above six occupants - typically fall outside the C4 HMO use class and into sui generis territory. That classification matters because it changes which planning policies apply, how the application is framed, and what the officer is assessing the scheme against. It also affects how the development sits relative to any Article 4 Directions in the area, which remove permitted development rights for HMO conversions in certain parts of Derby.

On the design side, the requirements are specific. Habitable room standards. Daylight and outlook. Fire safety and means of escape, which become significantly more complex in a converted multi-storey building than in a new build. Shared amenity space that functions in practice, not just in plan. Car parking and cycle provision in line with Derby City Council’s requirements. Bin storage. Acoustic separation between rooms.

None of these are insurmountable. All of them require considered design from the outset rather than retrospective compliance. Getting the layout right in principle before the planning application goes in avoids the revision cycle that costs time and money on the other side.

This is the work JSA does. Not design for its own sake - design in service of a scheme that is viable, approvable, and deliverable.

The Clients JSA Works Best With

British Living Group’s own description of their approach is instructive: investors and developers who understand the project ‘from acquisition to construction.’ That is the level of commercial fluency that makes a working relationship function well.

An architect working with a developer of that calibre does not need to explain what a planning timeline means for a finance structure, or why a scheme that cannot get building regulations approval is not a scheme. The brief is specific. The constraints are understood. The decisions that need to be made are made quickly, on the basis of information rather than reassurance.

For JSA, that is the preferred operating context. The practice has been delivering commercial and residential architecture across the Midlands since 2002. The projects that benefit most from JSA’s planning expertise and commercial understanding are exactly the ones where those things are required: multi-unit residential, HMOs, co-living, commercial conversion, development schemes where planning strategy and design quality are inseparable.

The relationship with British Living Group is consistent with the direction the practice is heading. More commercial clients. More development-focused work. More schemes where getting the planning right the first time is the metric that matters.

Our Work Across The Midlands

What Comes Next

The pre-application submission to Derby City Council is in preparation. Once officer feedback is received, the design will be refined accordingly and a full planning application submitted.

JSA will publish further updates on the scheme’s progress as it moves through the planning process. The project’s specific details remain confidential at this stage.

Developing a Co-working scheme in the Midlands?

JSA works with developers and investors on HMO, co-living, and commercial conversion projects across the region. 97% planning approval rate. Commercially-led design from pre-application to completion.

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JSA Architects Across the Midlands

We work with homeowners, developers, and landlords across the Midlands. Fees, planning authorities, and project types vary by location — find local insight and project examples for your area:

Architects in Derby → — Quarndon, Kirk Langley, Duffield, Allestree, Darley Abbey, Mickleover, Littleover

Architects in Nottingham → — The Park Estate, West Bridgford, Edwalton, Mapperley Park, Wollaton, Bramcote

Architects in Lichfield → — Shenstone, Little Aston, Four Oaks, Streetly, Aldridge, Walsall, Tamworth, Whittington

Architects in Solihull → — Knowle, Dorridge, Hampton in Arden, Shirley, Dickens Heath, Olton

Architects in Sutton Coldfield → — Four Oaks, Wylde Green, Boldmere, Mere Green, Streetly, Little Aston

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