Flex hotel/HMO planned for Leigh

Architect and planner Spencer Reid wants to merge three buildings off Railway Road into 39 bedrooms across three floors that could be used as either hotel rooms or HMO bedrooms.

Under the plans, there would be 10,900 sq ft of residential space between the three buildings, and space for 48 people to stay.

Oldham-based Spencer Reid’s designs centre on 44-52 Railway Road in Leigh’s town centre. The first of the buildings, 44-46 Railway Road, is currently home to eight self-contained studio apartments. The second, 48-50 Railway Road is a vacant former electrical shop. The third, 52 Railway Road, is an existing HMO.

Spencer Reid’s plans include refreshing the frontage of the buildings to give them a more unified look, including installing ground-floor windows. Internally, kitchens would be added to each floor.

Regarding the flexible use proposal, this would enable the owner of the buildings to vary the accommodation based on market need. The changes would be done at a floor level, with entire floors transitioning to HMOs or hotel use as required.

The hotel bookings would be done via an online platform, like Airbnb or Booking.com, with keys being picked up via lockboxes. Management would ensure that rooms are cleaned after use.

Off-street parking is not included in the plans. There would be, however, accommodation for 50 cycles to be stored securely.

The buildings’ owner has no intention of letting the space for asylum seeker accommodation, a sentiment that is reiterated throughout the planning documents.

To learn more about the proposals search reference A/26/101071/FULL on Wigan Council’s planning portal.