PLANS for an HMO in the Rhondda are due to come before councillors for a third time.
An application to convert a property in Wern Street, Clydach Vale, into a five-bed house in multiple occupation (HMO) is due to go before Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT)’s planning committee on Thursday, May 1.
Concerns have previously been raised by councillors over the quality of the accommodation, noise and disturbance, and parking and three letters of objection were received from the public in relation to it.
This application originally went before the committee in February where members voted that they were minded to refuse the application against the officer recommendation because they considered the conversion of the property to a five-bedroom house in multiple occupation would result in substandard living accommodation while also lacking outdoor amenity space along with generating additional indiscriminate on-street parking in the area.
A decision on the application was deferred for a further report to highlight the potential strengths and weaknesses of taking a decision against the recommendation.
It came back to committee in March but the committee was minded to further defer the application so they could consider concerns raised during the consideration of several other HMO applications and how those considerations might affect this application.
It came back to committee again in April 2025 and committee voted to refuse the application.
But after the committee meeting a typo was identified in the reason for refusal which incorrectly said that proposed development would
provide no off-street parking.
The planning report said: “Given that the proposal includes the creation of two parking spaces to the rear of the property it is considered necessary, as a matter of accuracy and for the clarity of all interested parties, to report the application back to members with the corrected reason for refusal.”
If the committee is still minded to refuse the application the recommended reason is that: “The proposal represents an inappropriate conversion and is considered overdevelopment of the site, resulting in an unacceptable intensification of use and poor-quality living accommodation for future residents, including a lack of outdoor amenity space and waste storage facilities.
It adds: “The additional comings and goings would also cause unacceptable noise and disturbance to neighbouring residents.
“Furthermore, the location of the site, noting the absence of significant large-scale local employment opportunities in the locality, would be considered to rely on the use of the private motor vehicle.
“In addition, the proposal would lead to increased on-street parking demand and would generate indiscriminate on-street parking in the
area which would have a negative impact upon highway safety.”
But in their planning assessment planning officers said that it is considered that HMOs have a key role to play in meeting housing need within the social rented sector and that the proposal would assist in providing alternate accommodation within the village for residents that cannot afford properties of their own.
“However, it is also acknowledged that the occupation of a house by multiple individuals can result in the intensification of its traditional residential use and that such an intensification could result in having negative impacts upon future occupants, their neighbours, and the local community.”
They said that the scheme relates to an existing building that is currently in residential use and is located within the settlement limits of Tonypandy in a predominantly residential area of the village of Clydach Vale.
They said it was in a sustainable location with good access to local services and facilities and complies with the relevant policies of the council’s HMO supplementary planning guidance adding that it would have no impact upon the character and appearance of the application property.
“With limited alterations and an occupation of up to six individuals it is not considered the scheme would result in a considerable intensification use or a significant impact upon the amenity and privacy of surrounding properties.
“The council’s transportation section also raised no objection to the application setting out that it is not anticipated that the proposed HMO would generate additional vehicular movements and on-street car parking to that of the existing private dwelling given the proposal provides for two off-street spaces to off-set the increase compared to the existing use.”
They added that from April 2019 all HMOs in RCT are required to be licensed under the Additional Licensing (Houses in Multiple Occupation) Scheme 2019 and the public health and protection team has confirmed that the development would comply with all relevant standards required to secure a separate HMO licence.
They also mentioned a recent appeal decision for the conversion of a terraced property to a five-bedroom HMO of a similar layout in Llewellyn Street, Trecynon.
It had been refused by committee as it was considered to result in an inappropriate conversion that would result in poor quality living accommodation but the appeal was allowed along with a full award of costs.
“In the appeal decision the inspector sets out that no evidence was provided to demonstrate how the sharing of facilities would harm the living conditions of future occupiers. Further, it is common for HMOs to have communal bathrooms and kitchens.”
