HMO approved at headstone memorial shop

The former office space around a headstone business in Oldham will soon be turned into a four-bedroom HMO.

The two-storey building on Huddersfield Road, home to McDermott’s Memorials, will be converted into living space after a change of use application was approved by Oldham Council. 

Plans submitted by building owner Mohammed Subhan Zaib show the top floor divided into four relatively generous rooms, each with an en-suite bathroom with a shower and toilet. The former store room of the shop will be transformed into a large kitchen area, accessed via a separate entrance to the funeral service. 

Pictured above: Headstone business on Huddersfield Road, Oldham.

The application, which received zero objections, also includes a single-storey extension to the back of the structure, which has already been built. 
Usually, councils would oppose the loss of commercial space, which may result in loss of employment for the local community. 

But according to Mr Zaib, the block has been mostly vacant for twenty years and has been ‘empty and vandalised and set on fire’ in that time, as well as being targeted by fly-tipping. The new owners purchased the space last year and ‘have spent thousands of pounds doing the property up and have upgraded the property to a very good standard’, according to the owner’s planning agent Dawn Winterbottom. 

Oldham’s planning officers noted they had received ‘no documentation’ to verify the claims, but added: “It is clear that the building has been vacant for an extended period, as evidenced by Google Street View imagery. It is considered important to bring a vacant building back into use, in particular a vacant first floor that can be used for other uses.” 

They decided to approve the application on the condition that the owners install sound-proofing around the headstone shop to protect future tenants from sound disturbances. 

McDermott’s memorials have been operating from the site since August 16, 2024, after the new owners acquired the property.