A LETTING agency which was told to stop using a terraced property as a house of multiple occupation (HMO) said it was being offered as an Airbnb, despite a “student let” sign above the front door.
Swan Sales and Lettings had received an enforcement notice from Swansea Council in May last year saying it appeared there’d been a material change of use of the residential property to an HMO for eight people without planning permission.
The council said this unauthorised use did not provide satisfactory living conditions due to a lack of outlook and light for two of the bedrooms and had a detrimental impact on road safety and parking.
Enforcement officers said the agency must cease HMO use within three months but it appealed, saying the breach alleged by the council hadn’t taken place because the property was being used as a short-term Airbnb let.
A Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector visited the house on Bryn Road, Brynmill, in March this year and upheld the council’s enforcement action.
The inspector, Richard Jenkins, described it as fully furnished and capable of being an Airbnb property. His decision report went on: “However, no cogent evidence, in the form of invoices, listings or reviews, has been submitted to support the assertion that the property was in use as a short-term holiday let at the time the notice was issued.”
He said the council’s evidence indicated that eight people were living at the property in the lead-up to the enforcement notice. They had been there, according to the council, so the agency could renovate their previous accommodation.
The inspector added: “It is also material to note that a Student Let sign, advertised by Swan Lettings, was located above the front door at the time of my site inspection.”
Mr Jenkins said he had no reason to seriously doubt the council’s position, having particular regard to a “distinct lack of evidence” from the appellants.
Bryn Road has many HMOs and is popular with students due to its proximity to Swansea University’s Singleton Campus and the beach.
Prior to the enforcement issue Swan Sales and Lettings had, in 2023, applied to the council to change the property’s residential use to an HMO for up to eight people, saying it was in a poor state of repair, not mortgageable, and that there was no demand for the existing use.
A planning statement on behalf of the company said it had been bought for £230,000, that bringing it back up to scratch would cost around £200,000, and that renting it as a residential home would generate around £10,000 per year compared to nearly £35,000 as an HMO. It added that the property, which has space for three cars at the rear, was sandwiched between two other HMOs and would not be suitable for a family.
There is a rule in that part of Swansea that no more than 25% of properties within 50m of a house where HMO use is sought can be HMOs, and council planning officers said the concentration would be 35% if HMO approval was given. They turned the change of use application down on three grounds, and their refusal decision was upheld after Swan Sales and Lettings appealed.
The agency then applied to create a seven-bedroom HMO, but the council – citing the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act – declined to determine the application saying it was similar to the previous one which had been unsuccessfully appealed.
Meanwhile, just across the road and in a separate decision the owners of a former guesthouse have won a planning appeal to convert the building into four flats with rear balconies. The council had turned down the owners’ planning application, saying it failed to provide adequate and safe parking.
