Agenda item

(Copy Herewith)

The Development Manager submitted a report on behalf of the Head of Planning and elaborated thereon. Members of the Committee were informed that the application sought to change the use from a residential dwelling to a house in multiple occupation (HIMO) for six people.  The property comprised six bedrooms with a bedroom in the basement and a converted loft.

The Development Manager confirmed that this property would equate to less than 2% concentration of HIMO’s in the area. In addition Members were directed to paragraph 7.7 to 7.9 of the report which stated that the Inspector had overturned decisions made by the Local Planning Authority on similarly located properties due to the fact that those properties were located in a sustainable area.

Councillor Zoe Smith addressed the Committee and stated that she had a number of concerns with this application. It was her opinion that having six people in the property was too many. In addition she commented that the Highways Authority had picked up that there was a lack of parking in the locality and that this would lead to increased parking on double yellow lines.

In response to questions from the Committee, Councillor Zoe Smith commented that having four people in the house was better than six. In addition it was more likely that residents from the area would receive parking fines for parking illegally.

Jonathan Curtis, owner of the property, addressed the Committee and stated that there were a number of people working in close proximity to the property and needed somewhere to live. Of the current tenants living in the property only one had a driver’s licence. The building had historically contained a cellar and loft, which had been converted for dwelling use.

Members welcomed the report and made a number of comments including:

·         The basement conversion had been carried out well and there was a lot of natural light flooding into the room.

·         The development was one of the best HIMO applications that had come to the Committee.

·         It was a shame to lose a family home, which were needed.

The Development Manager commented that within one month of the approval being granted, full details for the provision for storage of refuse must be submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority.

RESOLVED:

That the application be APPROVED subject to the conditions as set out in the report and for the following reason:

The proposed development for change of use from a C3 dwelling to a house in multiple occupation (HIMO) would not lead to an unacceptable concentration of HIMOs within the locality that would adversely impact upon the character of the street scene, nor would the development have significant adverse impacts on neighbouring amenity or parking provision.  The property is of sufficient size to accommodate the level of accommodation as proposed and is in accordance with the requirements of Policies H1, H5, and S10 of the West Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy, saved Policies E20 and H30 of the Northampton Local Plan, the Council’s ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation Interim Planning Policy Statement’ and the aims and objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework.