Photo by Colony Living

Good design plays a key role in the success of any HMO property. As an important business tool, thoughtful and intentional design in your HMOs can help you achieve a great space for your tenants resulting in properties that are visually appealing, practical and efficient, while making your portfolio more profitable.

Standards are continuing to increase in the HMO market, but this isn’t something to be fearful of… You can create an attractive, high-quality product through great design. So, here we’ll discuss the importance of good design and our top tips to make your HMO stand out to tenants, which will only become more important moving forward!

Importance of Good Design

While trends come and go, great design stands the test of time! As the HMO market is very competitive, you need to create well-designed HMOs that impress your tenants and prospective renters.

Creating HMOs with good designs offers so many benefits. It enhances the visual appeal and aesthetics of your properties, creating spaces that are not just functional but also inspiring and enjoyable to live in. Effective design can also maximise the efficient use of space and improve tenant satisfaction.

When planning out the design of your HMOs, you’ll need to consider your budget, what your target demographic is looking for and what your competition is offering. It’s important to focus on comfort, lifestyle and visual appeal – not just compliance. 

With the design elements throughout your properties, think about balance, scale, rhythm, repetition and functionality. If you do this right, your HMO rooms will rent more quickly, often at better rates with fewer void periods, and you could benefit from a better return on investment down the road. 

But you don’t necessarily need a massive budget to do this effectively. It’s possible to incorporate cost-effective strategies that allow you to meet budgetary requirements without compromising on long-term value or quality.

11 Design Tips for HMO Properties

• Start with a mood board.

Creating a design for your HMOs can be overwhelming as there is an endless amount of inspiration all over the internet. It’s easy to get lost on Pinterest for hours, but creating a mood board can help you get started and allow you to overcome decision overwhelm. 

Once you’ve researched the latest design trends and what’s popular among your target market, use a mood board to help you land on a design concept with an associated colour palette and materials, finishes, furniture, art and accessories that go together.

• Create a lifestyle.

Don’t only focus on function… HMOs aren’t just a collection of bedrooms – it’s a shared living experience! Tenants will be choosing a home and not just a room. Encompassing design features that effectively foster community, including a stylish dining area, shared garden or welcoming lounge, can help make your properties stand out.

Think about what will make tenants proud of where they live and want to invite friends over. A relatively small investment in comfortable and welcoming communal spaces can lead to longer tenancies and higher occupancy rates.

• Optimise your floor plan.

Space planning, which involves figuring out the optimal layout and allocation within a property, is a crucial aspect of good design. Doing this effectively will ensure that all of the space within your HMO is utilised efficiently, allowing you to create comfortable, functional and pleasant living spaces.

So, carefully consider the needs of your tenants and where you’ll place furniture. If you need professional help with this, interior designers can help you maximise the usability and flexibility of the spaces within your properties.

• Focus on communal areas.

Within HMOs, communal spaces and kitchens are typically the most used (and sometimes abused!) spaces. These can often make or break a prospective tenants’ decision to rent a room in your HMOs and how long tenants stay.

In kitchens, invest in quality cabinetry, hard-wearing surfaces and easy-to-clean flooring. Then in communal spaces, utilise modern furniture and fixtures and adequate lighting. 

Where possible within your budget, exceed minimum requirements when it comes to facilities and standards. For example, provide extra seating or larger cooking space as this can add marketing value.

• Choose the right colours.

Colour plays an important role in setting a space’s ambiance and mood, so picking the right colour for different rooms in your HMOs can enhance both mood and function. It’s important to still have a cohesive palette that complements the design and style of your properties.

Start by selecting colours that complement the purpose of each space, allowing you to create a home in harmony for your tenants. For example, living rooms should be warm and inviting, so neutral tones can help you create this. But you can still add a touch of vibrancy with accent walls.

Kitchens can benefit from bright and airy colours that are energising and refreshing. Cream, white and light grey can provide a spacious and clean look, while pastel blues and soft creams can add cheerfulness and warmth. In bedrooms, soothing colours work best to create a calm and relaxing space through muted greens, soft blues, light greys and gentle lavenders.

• Create a cohesive theme.

Modern tenants can easily spot a property that has been thrown together, especially as standards continue to be pushed up across the HMO industry. And this will likely only become more and more important!

Because of this, coordinated colour schemes, clear branding and consistent furniture choices show you have put a lot of thought into this and care about the tenant experience. This can also allow you to create a balanced home with rooms that flow together.

• Adopt a sustainable approach.

Sustainable design is not just a passing trend or buzzword. It’s an obligation as a HMO landlord. Creating homes that are environmentally responsible is about shaping homes that can thrive long into the future, and if you don’t keep up with market expectations, you will get left behind!

Without thoughtful sustainable design, your properties can quickly become inefficient, expensive to run and even uncomfortable for your tenants to live in… Adopting a sustainable design approach can allow you to improve both the environmental impact and your profitability over the long-term.

This is something more and more tenants are aware of nowadays, especially as sustainability often means lower utility bills and healthier and more comfortable living conditions. If you create a sustainable design for your HMOs, this will often reduce maintenance costs, allow you to remain compliant with changing energy regulations and even push up tenant retention.

• Don’t underestimate simple touches.

Great design doesn’t always have to shout – it just needs to work, feel good and last! Utilising simple touches can help you create a polished look across your HMOs without having to overspend. 

Consider purchasing artwork, plants and soft furnishings for different spaces throughout your HMOs. And make sure you have good lighting… Warm and layered light sources can make rooms much more inviting than the harsh ceiling bulb.

• Impress your tenants and prospective renters.

Think about first impressions. The hallway of your properties will often be one of the first things prospective tenants and renters will see. Make these areas welcoming and bright. A tidy and well-lit entrance with durable flooring and mirrors can help create a sense of space. 

Clever coat or shoe storage can also be good additions, setting the tone of care and attention. Simple touches like modern light fittings and consistent wall colours can also help elevate the entire feel of the property.

•  Plan out styling and staging.

A stylish and well-staged HMO can enhance your property’s appeal and attract higher-quality tenants. Staging involves strategically arranging decor and furniture to create a welcoming atmosphere and highlight the property’s strengths. This allows prospective tenants to envision themselves living in the space. 

Getting this right can lead to a faster rental process, higher rental prices, a marketing advantage and reduced tenant turnover. So, make it look like an interiors magazine! Have a feature or complementary artwork in each room, which helps create a focal point. Avoid mixing too many patterns, and ensure there is balance between larger ornaments. 

• Consider working with professionals.

Interior design is often an area that HMO investors do themselves. However, many of us aren’t great at it… including myself! So, it can be a no-brainer for some of us to have an interior designer on our power team. 

It’s impossible to do everything on your own, and working with the right professionals can help you improve your HMOs and boost your service offering. If you get this part of HMO investment right, you’ll also be better placed to deal with the upcoming industry changes, stand out from the increasing competition and create a more sustainable HMO business.

A good designer can help you create a colour palette and fluid design throughout your properties that can really pull a concept together and even become part of your brand.This could then help you elevate your products and give you the opportunity to rinse and repeat set designs with a few tweaks. 

An experienced interior designer is key if you really want to maximise the financial performance of your HMO projects. It could even help on the valuation if everything in the property looks cohesive and professionally planned. 

At The HMO Roadmap, we’ve partnered with specialist HMO interior designers and architects Andrew and Mary. They have an excellent interior design service, and it’s because they also invest in HMOs themselves.

Additionally, you’ll find that you periodically need to touch up your HMOs, and this will likely be more often than you think! To ensure this is done to a high-quality and professional standard, you may want to bring in an expert decorator. This can help you improve your HMOs, boost your rents and ensure your properties don’t fall behind the competition.

Learn More About HMO Refurbs & Interior Design

These are some of the ways you can design your HMOs and make them stand out to your tenants! If you’re able to do this in the competitive market, you’ll be able to add rental value and earn a strong return on investment, in addition to renting your rooms more quickly and having shorter voids, allowing you to create a more profitable HMO portfolio.

If you’re interested in learning more about HMO refurbs and interior design, sign up for The HMO Roadmap, which provides training, resources, templates and step-by-step plans. Inside the Roadmap, there is even a course section dedicated to refurbishments, interior design and styling. So, sign up today to start boosting your knowledge in this area of investing in HMOs!

Over on The HMO Podcast, we also provide practical advice, technical know-how and inspiring stories on topics like refurbishing HMOs, designing spaces, maximising rental income and navigating challenges. Tune in to the podcast to get the tools, knowledge and inspiration to take your HMO business to the next level!

And if you have questions about HMO refurbs and design advice, join our free Facebook Group The HMO Community! It’s a great space for growing, learning and supporting each other.

About the Author:

Andy Graham is the founder and the lead trainer at The HMO Roadmap! He is also the co-founder of The HMO Mastermind, writes as a regular columnist in different magazines about a variety of HMO topics and is the host of The HMO Podcast! Follow Andy on Instagram!