Second bid lodged to convert ‘disused’ office into five-bed HMO

Plans for an HMO have been resubmitted after an earlier application was rejected over flooding concerns.

The applicant, Tony Jordon, hopes to convert a “disused” office building at 36 Penallta Road, Ystrad Mynach into a five-bed HMO (house in multiple occupation).

HMOs are typically properties for between three and six single, unrelated adults who have their own private bedrooms but share other communal areas.

Council planning officers judged Mr Jordon’s original application in late 2025 had “failed to adequately address the impacts of flooding” on the converted property, which would have ground-floor bedrooms.

The new application also includes ground-floor bedrooms, but a supporting statement from planning agents at Creation Design-Wales argues the property is on the “outer edge” of a flood zone area, and the proposed development would be “safe, sustainable, and compliant with national policy”.

The agents added the new HMO would “provide much-needed affordable housing in the area”.

The new application is currently out for consultation, and can be viewed on the Caerphilly County Borough Council website under reference 26/0316/COU.