Published15 October 2026Updated15 October 2026
Planning submitted for a 25-room co-living scheme in Derby: deep, dark and full of rules
Old commercial buildings are deep, dark in the middle and full of rooms nobody wants to sleep in. That's where a good designer starts. Here's what we do with them, and the 25-room scheme we've submitted in Derby.
If you've tried to turn an old commercial building into flats or an HMO, you'll know the challenges: deep footprints, dark middles, and spaces that were never meant for anyone to sleep in.
Then there are the rules. Planning, housing law and Building Regulations each have a view on what you've built, and they don't always agree.
What a good designer does with a deep, dark building
A good designer gives the windows to the bedrooms first, so the studios take the outside walls. Then gives the deep middle to the rooms that can live without a window, like the kitchens, lounges, laundries and stores, and borrows light where it can.
Residents now expect their own en-suite and kitchenette, with shared rooms as a bonus rather than essential. So the studios have to work on their own, and the shared rooms have to be worth leaving them for.
At Charnwood House, every studio has an outside window, the kitchen-diner borrows light from the bright entrance foyer through a glazed screen, and the internal shared rooms have artificial daylight units in the ceiling.
Get those calls right, and before you know it you've got yourself a sellable, lettable development of fancy new studios that stands up to scrutiny.
Then there's planning: what are these studios?
A good design is only good if it passes scrutiny, and the first question is what you're building: is each studio a flat, an HMO room or a "room for residential purposes"?
Planning, housing law and Building Regulations each classify a building like this in their own way, and the answers don't always match. A flat may need to meet the national space standard. An HMO turns on households sharing, or lacking, a toilet, washing or cooking facilities. "Room for residential purposes" is a Building Regulations term, and building control decides it scheme by scheme. Its answer changes the fire strategy, so it should be agreed in writing before the design is fixed. That's where experience counts.
Whatever the studios are, they need planning permission and Building Regulations approval, must meet housing health and safety standards and fire safety law, and, if they're an HMO, need a licence from the council.
Charnwood House, our latest
Charnwood House is our latest large co-living scheme. Working with British Living Group, we submitted it to Derby City Council on 15 September 2026 (ref 26/01225/FUL). The council describes it as a 25-bedroom house in multiple occupation (sui generis).
The numbers shape the appraisal. Over six residents, an HMO is "sui generis" and needs full planning permission. At 17 or more people, Derby's 2025 HMO planning guidance says the council may seek planning obligations (a Section 106 agreement), and it has indicated it will here. The same guidance sets limits on how many HMOs can cluster together.
Still deciding between an HMO and self-contained flats? Read HMO or flats? first: it goes further into space standards and licensing. There's more on this scheme with British Living Group, how we work with property developers and architects in Derby.
Areas We Cover
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
faq's
Common Questions
In England, an HMO for more than six people is classed as "sui generis" in planning law, so creating one needs full planning permission. Smaller HMOs, for up to six people, fall in Use Class C4. Charnwood House in Derby is a 25-bedroom sui generis HMO, so it went in as a full planning application.
In England, a co-living scheme that's an HMO needs a mandatory HMO licence from the council if five or more people from two or more households live there. Councils can also run additional licensing schemes covering other HMOs, so check the local rules before you fix your appraisal and programme.
In the Building Regulations, a "room for residential purposes" is a room or suite of rooms where someone lives and sleeps that isn't a house or a flat, like a room in a hostel, hotel or hall of residence. Building control decides scheme by scheme, and the answer changes the fire strategy, so agree it in writing before the design is fixed.
In the client briefs we see, co-living residents now expect their own en-suite and kitchenette, with shared rooms as a bonus rather than the essentials. So each studio has to work on its own, with daylight, storage and somewhere to sit and work, and the shared rooms have to be worth leaving it for.
Derby City Council's HMO planning guidance says it won't normally permit an HMO that breaks three concentration limits: no more than two HMOs side by side, no home sandwiched between HMOs (or between an HMO and a non-residential building), and no more than 10% of properties within 50 metres in HMO use.
Derby City Council's 2025 HMO planning guidance says the council may seek planning obligations (a Section 106 agreement) where a new HMO would house 17 or more people, to address impacts on local facilities and infrastructure. Charnwood House has 25 bedrooms, and the council has indicated it will seek obligations. Build it into your appraisal from the start.
In England, the fire and rescue service is consulted on the fire-safety design of a large HMO or co-living building when the building control application goes in, and once people move in it enforces the Fire Safety Order in the shared parts. How building control classifies the rooms sets which fire guidance applies.
Co-living in England needs planning permission in most cases: there's no co-living use class, so a scheme for more than six people is usually treated as a large HMO or another "sui generis" use, neither of which has permitted development rights. The council describes Charnwood House, a co-living scheme, as a 25-bedroom house in multiple occupation (sui generis).
Articles
News & Insights
Project updates, practice news, and useful guidance from JSA Architects.
Planning submitted for a 25-room co-living scheme in Derby: deep, dark and full of rules
Deep footprints, dark middles and three sets of rules that don't always agree. What it takes to design co-living studios, and our 25-room scheme in Derby.
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Bat Surveys and Building Projects: Seasons, Licences and Costs
Bats can hold up homes, commercial sites and listed buildings for most of a year. Survey triggers, council rules, permitted development, licences and costs.
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Poor architectural drawings create assumptions, delays and cost. See why clear, accurate information matters to homeowners and commercial clients.
HMO or Flats? Why Modern Co-Living Falls Between the Rules
When does an HMO become flats? See how planning, licensing, building regulations and fire safety diverge, and how co-living developers can reduce risk early.
The New NPPF Is Here: What the 2026 Rewrite Means for Your Project
The new NPPF landed on 17 August 2026 and applies to decisions now. What changed for extensions, garden plots, small sites and Midlands projects.
We're Revisiting Our Leisure Portfolio
Twenty years of Midlands pub, bar and restaurant projects, plus a decade behind the bar. What a busy summer tells you about the building you trade from.
We Built an App That Keeps You in the Room
Datum is JSA's own project app. Every client gets a login: latest drawings, the brief, where planning's got to and what we did this week. Free on every project.
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Site progress at Burley Lane in Quarndon: stair structure, basement golf simulator, MVHR routes, full-height glazing and November 2026 completion.
Planning Approved for Bramble Street Office-to-Flats Conversion in Derby
A vacant period office on Bramble Street, Derby, has approval for three flats. Now the unglamorous part: stairs, acoustics, flood notes and drawings.
Justin Smith Architects Is Now JSA Architects
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Welcome to JSA, Joao Bravo
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A contemporary rear extension brings light and space to a Victorian townhouse in Sutton Coldfield, and leaves the period terrace out front exactly as it was.
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JSA is working with British Living Group, one of the Midlands' most commercially minded developers, on a 27-room co-living conversion in Derby.
Lichfield’s Local Plan Might Be Delayed to 2029. If You’re Thinking About a Project, Here’s What That Means for You
Lichfield District Council may delay its 2043 Local Plan. If that sounds like a reason to pause your project, read this first. It probably isn't.
5,500 Homes Are Coming to Walmley. If You’re Already Living There, This Is Your Cue to Stop Putting Off Your Own Project
Birmingham City Council has approved the groundwork for 5,500 new homes near Walmley. If your own project's been on the back burner, this is your sign.
Planning Approved for Brooklands Luxury Dwelling
Golden Brook Developments had a permission for Brooklands and didn't rate the design. We redesigned it, and South Derbyshire has now approved the new scheme.
Planning Submitted: Brooklands' Redesign Heads to South Derbyshire District Council
The design's done and the application's in. Here's what JSA has proposed for Brooklands, a new home in Weston-on-Trent, South Derbyshire.
JSA Architects Appointed to Redesign Brooklands, a Luxury New Build in Weston-on-Trent
A permission existed and a design was on the table. Golden Brook Developments decided it wasn't good enough. They were right, and they called us.
Two Stand-Out Self-Builds Submitted for Full Planning in Little Eaton
Two bespoke self-build homes in Little Eaton designed for standout architecture and smart investment returns.
Major Family Home Remodel Proposed in Repton, South Derbyshire
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The Windy Rise plot in Little Eaton lost its bungalow to arsonists in 2017, then spent a decade rewilding. Our design for the hillside is now with the council.
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