Neighbours have objected to plans to turn a family home into a shared house in an area where some say a limit has been reached.
They are unhappy about a planning application by student housing specialist Rivers Birtwell to convert 54 Auckland Drive, Brighton, from four-bedroom property into a six-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO).
Sixteen objections have been sent to Brighton and Hove City Council, with immediate neighbour Candice Underwood saying that, having lived in Brighton for 20 years, she moved to Bevendean for a quieter family life.
She said: “When we bought this house, we were assured it was a family area, with a lovely local school – and that no more HMO licences would be allowed as the area had reached its quota.
“However, it seems now though that this is not the case as, with this application, yet again family homes are being disregarded and repurposed in an area that isn’t set up for shared living.
“This has real-life impacts on jobs and wellbeing in the area. The school is already struggling for funding due to fewer pupils. Parking is a nightmare. And my neighbours feel completely powerless against it.
“The sad truth of it is if this continues to happen, families won’t be able to live in Bevendean any more.”
The council brought in restrictions nearly 10 years ago to limit the spread of HMOs to no more than 10 per cent of properties within a 50-metre radius in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean.
More recently, city-wide restrictions came in, limiting shared houses to no more than 20 per cent of properties in a wider neighbourhood area.
The policy also aimed to prevent family homes from being sandwiched between two shared houses, which are often let to students or young professionals, so there would not be three HMOs in a row.
An anonymous objector to the latest application, whose details were redacted by the council, said: “There are already 16 properties in just Auckland Drive and Hornby Road combined that are registered as HMOs.
“That is without the other 513 that are registered in the remaining Moulsecoomb and Bevendean Ward.
“That is 529 family properties that are now no longer available. It is unfair to consider doing this to another one.”
Rivers Birtwell submitted a planning statement as part of its application, prepared by the company’s agent Lewis and Co Planning.
It said that there was just one other HMO within 50 metres of the house – or 6.7 per cent of the properties – and that the application complied with council policy.
Across the wider neighbourhood, it said, fewer than 6 per cent of homes were HMOs and there would not be a “continuous frontage”, sandwiching a family home between two shared houses.
Rivers Birtwell, which is owned by George Birtwell, 45, and Oliver Dorman, 46, said: “The proposals incorporate specific enhancements to reduce the likelihood of any impacts from normal residential activity on neighbours.”
These included “relocating the internal circulation spaces away from the shared boundary, soundproofing improvements, obscure glazing and a reduction in the number of side-facing windows”.
The company added: “These measures offer a material improvement on neighbouring amenity.”
To view or comment on the application, click here and search for BH2025/02421.
Pure greed, no consideration for others, just there Pockets.
Can’t see a strong argument being made against this, so it’ll likely be approved.
It will harm neighbours with noise and damage the area, reason enough to reject. Liebour don’t care.
Interesting that the companies who own the big student housing buildings are predicting a slowdown in growth and profits. Apparently not being able to bring your extended family to the UK when you come here to study is reducing student numbers. Or maybe younger people are working out that a non-STEM degree ain’t worth the paper, or maybe both.
The net result is the same, fewer students predicted. Perhaps many of these HMOs will be short lived.
Also the incoming increase to student loans will detract from reading a university degree, too. However, once an HMO is established, it’ll be protected in the private sector as it has a strong potential of revenue.
No they won’t. HMOs who cannot get students rent them to young professional singles moving to the city from elsewhere. An employee of a building contracting company told me this is what they did.
Unless Governments change policies and increase greatly what landlords have to pay in council tax (students don’t pay council tax and we don’t expect them to), there will always be a profit for HMOs at the expense of the blue collar workers forced to move away from the city of their birth.
The knock on effect of all the blue collar workers’ jobs going (eg. bus company cannot fill places), and the schools and communities close down. Working age families form the heart of the communities, so it will leave communities with mainly elderly and students, and fewer workers.
This area has already 25/26% student occupancy in recent census, and North Moulsecoomb/Coldean area have 69% student occupancy.
Another effect of having a large student population is that there is little funding now for the poorer areas, as Government deem the areas to be of degree or above degree level and not in need of any financial or medical help or other help, due to the majority being students who are usually healthy and educated.
This does not give accurate figures of our communities and the social demographics we encounter at grassroots level. (In 2001 Government Indices Moulsecoomb was rated 37th most deprived area in UK.).
Although things are changing. Blue collar workers will soon have all the money as AI will do all the white collar jobs.
Not quite. Rotterdam Docks went computerised a few years ago using robots to move cargo, and so have many large South Asian warehouses etc. and so the blue collar jobs have gone.
Governments don’t consider that AI robots do not pay their taxes, so shoot themselves in the foot in more ways than one, when no one is paying their taxes into the coffers!
Miserable nimbys.
People have got to live somewhere, and not everyone can afford a whole dwelling to themselves.
Those living in shared accommodation are at the bottom of the food chain in the housing market and get the worst value for money, because councils punish them in favour of first time buyers.
Shared housing is more ecological, more affordable and helps ease pressure on the limited housing market. The only real reason that neighbours object is because HMOs are more likely to contain black and Asian tenants.