Neighbours were shocked to find that plans for a shared house in a quiet residential street were approved despite several objections.
The planning permission means that 71 Eastbrook Road, Portslade, could be converted from a family home into a five-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO).
The proposal was approved by Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning department on Wednesday 10 April.
WSE Property Services, of Green Ridge, Brighton, run by directors John and Helen Wright, both 48, can also build a single-storey rear extension and loft conversion with rear dormers and front rooflights.
The council received 21 objections to the plans, including one from Labour councillor Alan Robins who represents South Portslade. However, all but four were received after the deadline.
Usually, when the council receives five letters from the public, or just one from a councillor, a planning application is referred to the council’s Planning Committee for the 10 members to decide.
The council’s planning department verified the application on Wednesday 7 February and the four immediate neighbours commented before the deadline of Friday 8 March deadline. But the other 17 objections came in after Thursday 28 March.
Councillors Robins said that residents should not be “too worried” because the house could still be used as a family home.
He said: “If it had gone to the committee, I would have gone along and said we’re hoping to encourage families back into the city and here’s a perfect family home in a perfect family area and they’re turning it into an HMO.
“There are a lot of strict rules on this HMO though. There’s a strict limit of six people living in it.”
One of the residents who objected to the proposal, Emily Brewer, was disappointed that the application went through when the local community did not want it to be approved.
She said: “Another property on the road had its HMO application withdrawn so why can’t they have the good sense to pull it?
“These small two-bedroom Victorian terraces are not made for six people and the area is popular with families and older people due to its quiet nature.”
The council said: “All of the objections were considered by officers when determining the application but, since only four were received during the consultation period, the decision could be delegated.
“The application was approved by officers in accordance with the council’s adopted scheme of delegation.”
WSE Property Services lets more than a dozen homes in the Brighton and Hove area – “mainly aimed at the student market”, according to its website.
These people have ripped the heart out of the suburbs to make a quick profit. Its these greedy landlords that he brought about the demise of the family unit in Brighton, these are the people we have to blame along with 30 years of a socialist council that puts students before residents.
At least these homes will be lived in though, as a consolation. And those living in this will likely be using the local businesses and amenities.
I’ve mentioned before the scraped data on empty homes from holiday lets averaging about 500 years of living time lost every quarter.
Ultimately, the answer is a upscaling of building more housing, ideally with a primary residency clause as previously discussed. Something that appears to be trending in the right direction currently with projects such as the one in Coledean completing recently. More of this will definitely help, in my opinion.
I will continue to be street homeless.
Yet again Brighton planning dept help to force young families out of the City. Such families have to look to Worthing or Peacehaven for example. Planners are destroying the life of Brighton and Hove – why on earth don’t Councillors wake up and do something to save our city…?
I live in Worthing, you seem to think there are empty houses laying around here ??
I agree. Unfortunately the Greens (student accommodation) & Labour (HMO’s & flats) are destroying Brighton & Hove as a destination for families – hence the plunging birth rate & closure of schools.
Hopefully – voters will remember this at the next election.
The expansion of the universities with the tacit expectation that students would be housed in the existing housing stock was underway long before The Greens came in. Yes there has been expansion in Purpose Built Student Accommodation in recent years but this is hardly a Brighton phenomenon as all university cities have seen a similar rise in PBSA and I have to question how much power a council has to deny planning permission for such developments (happy to be corrected on that). Furthermore, by building more PBSA the reasoning is they will free up more homes for non students – agruably this has been effective given the number of student HMOs curerntly sat on Right Move that are yet to find tenants, despite heavy price reductions.
As Benjamin correctly points out above whilst many rail against the conversion of family homes, HMOs provide much needed, cost effective accommodation for the thousands of non-students in this city who simply can’t afford to rent their own flat. We have Article 4 direction to prevent more conversions in areas deemed to have a high level of existing HMOs.
Perhaps instead of pouring scorn on the oppostion, you would like to share your solutions?
Bad spellers of the word untie
So Cllr Lyons what did YOUR party – the Conservatives – do when they led the council between May 2007 and May 2011?
And more importantly what has YOUR government done ? Other than ease planning law / regulations that have reduced dramatically the ability of councils to deny planning permission to applications like this?
Unfortunately Councillor, this has not been helped at all by the Conservative government, who have failed to build anywhere near the required targets to match growth from over a decade of chances to do so.
I hope voters remember this when they quite rightly direct the exiting government in what is anticipated from multiple polling sources, a wipeout.