Bridgend Council’s Planning Committee have granted retrospective planning permission for a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) at Grove Road in Oldcastle (pdf).
The building itself is accessed via a lane between Grove Road and St. Marie Street (pictured above). It was converted to a 6-bedroom HMO in June 2023.
The application seeks backdated planning permission for the conversion.
In 1995, an application to convert the building into a bedsit/bed & breakfast was turned down by BCBC and went to appeal. That appeal was upheld due to the car parking arrangements, but not on the principle of a change of use.
Bridgend Town Council objected because they believe there are already too many HMOs in the area and the associated problems with parking and other issues.
There were also 15 separate objections from neighbouring residents along the same lines. Issues around access were also raised as the building is (partially) accessed from Grove Road via a private footpath/lane down the side of one of the gardens.
This might give you a better idea of how the building sits in the surrounding area:
The report says the owners of the lane will refuse access to HMO residents, but planning officers say that any dispute would be a “civil matter”.
As with similar applications in the last few years, planning officers have determined the HMO wouldn’t exceed the council’s HMO quota. This policy limits the number of HMOs to 10% of properties in a 50-metre radius of a proposed HMO.
The applicant will be expected to review and improve fire suppression systems – such as sprinklers – in the building to meet building regulations.
During the meeting, a planning officer added that Bridgend Council are currently working on Supplementary Planning Guidance for HMOs. This may include minimum standards and sizes for bedrooms.
While the view of planning officers was that car parking shouldn’t be an issue, the narrowness of the lane – and existing parking issues in surrounding streets – prompted several councillors to request the application be delayed/deferred for further discussion. This proposal was rejected by 10 votes to 6.
The application itself was subsequently approved by 12 votes to 4.
