RESIDENTS’ attempts to stop another HMO conversion in their street have been unsuccessful.
Critics told Newport City Council there were already “at least five HMOs” in Morden Road, adding they feared the popularity of these properties could lead to “an imbalanced and unsustainable community”.
HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) are typically properties for single, unrelated adults who have their own bedrooms but share other areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.
Applicant Michal Zvala described the property, at 27 Morden Road, as “readily accessible” by public transport and near other services.
But the council received 25 objections to his application, coming from neighbours and the St Julian’s ward’s three councillors.
One of them, Cllr Phil Hourahine, told Newport’s planning committee on Wednesday there was “no support from any residents for this application”.
There are “already five HMOs in Morden Road”, including “at least two or three” approved “quite recently”, he alleged.
Cllr Hourahine said another HMO in the street was “unwanted and a further blight on this designated family area”.
Council planning officers had recommended the scheme be approved, however.
They noted the residents’ concerns centred on issues such as increased parking pressures, issues with noise and a reduction in available family housing stock.
In this case, the applicant has proposed converting the property from a four-bedroom house into a HMO for five people.
Senior planning officer Francesca Sanders told the committee the conversion would comply with council guidance on stopping an over-concentration of HMOs.
A report shows there are two other HMOs within 50 metres of the application site, and if another is added the concentration of that property type would be 13% of the total housing stock – just below the council’s 15% threshold for that area.
Ms Sanders also noted the internal layout of the application site “will remain largely unchanged”.
In its report, the council also said the “personal details of future occupants of a HMO are private interest matters and not ordinarily material considerations for planning”.
Cllr John Reynolds, a committee member, expressed “sympathy with a lot of things” the objectors had raised, but said some fell outside the planning remit.
“Our decision is forced in that sense,” he told colleagues.
But he accepted a concentration of HMOs “has a massive effect on the community”.
The committee voted to grant planning permission, subject to conditions.
