Agenda item

Change of use from dwelling house (class C3) to purposes falling within class C4 (house in multiple occupation) or class C3 (dwelling house)

Ms Rattue within her deputation objecting to the proposal included the following points:

·         She chose this as a desirable location to relocate to, however she was concerned regarding the deterioration of Waverley Road.

·         She listed the houses in multiple occupation within Waverley Road, Welch Road, Herbert Road, Gains Road and three in Allens Road but she felt there were others that had not been recorded for the report.

·         There was a loft room at the property that was being used as a bedroom without approval. 

·         The HMOs were changing the nature of the neighbourhood and there was more anti-social behaviour locally associated with this plus there the impact of extra parking, rubbish and noise within the street.

A deputation was then made by Mr Edwards, also a resident of Allens Road objecting.  His concerns included:

·         Waverley Road was now a ghetto of HMOs with boarded up houses and people sitting outside drinking.

·         There were five not four HMOs in Allens Road.  He pointed out that 60 Waverley Road was a property accessed by Allens Road which should make it six.

·         There were 43 houses in Allens Road and so there would be more than 10% HMOs within it if this went through.  There would be an impact on the amenity of local residents who enjoyed a community spirit which was not enhanced by unrelated adults living together and students who did not wish to join in community events.

·         He was also concerned regarding the safety at No 21 with the loft bedroom conversion.

Councillor Michael Andrewes (also representing Councillors Hall and Winnington as ward councillors) voiced the residents' concerns; he felt it would be worth re-checking the number of HMOs within the area and asked that there be a deferral to allow this.  He asked that the committee take account of the amenity of the residents and the problems with parking which was already difficult. 

Councillor Luke Stubbs appeared as a ward councillor; he reiterated the problems with properties in Waverley Grove being sub-divided into flats and he felt that there was an overuse of properties in the area with an impact on residential amenity.  As the Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration & Economic Development he would give consideration to reviewing the policy used to assess HMO numbers.  He was also concerned regarding the additional litter.

Members' Questions

In response to the debate regarding how the number of HMOs were calculated it was clarified that the 50 metre radius was taken from the mid-front of application property for the circle to be drawn.  In this case the area covered included properties in other roads.  It was also clarified that a refusal could not be defended on the basis of how members might suppose the occupants of a property would behave as there were instances where HMOs were well-managed and the residents were well-behaved.  Questions were raised regarding the loft conversion and it was clarified there could be a conversion without specific reference n  planning application; however there would be controls through the Building Regulations where a storage loft had been converted to a habitable room.  No condition could be imposed to require compliance with Building Regulations.

Members' Comments

Members asked that there be a check that the building regulations were complied with for the conversion of the loft at this property.  It was hoped that the Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration & Economic Development review the policy of looking at HMOs to move to more of a "road by road" basis rather than taking into account properties from adjacent roads.  It was felt that it would be beneficial to defer consideration so that the exact number of HMOs in the relevant radius could be re-examined.

RESOLVED that consideration of this item be deferred for further examination of the concentration of houses in multiple occupation within this area.