REJECTED: Huge 32-bed former care home in Northampton neighbourhood refused permission to be officially used as a HMO
Plans to convert a former care home in Northampton into a huge HMO for up to 32 have been thrown out by the council's planning committee, despite a recommendation for approval.
The proposals, submitted by applicant Dunclent Properties, asked West Northants Council (WNC) for permission to adapt the now-closed Leys care home in Boothville into a large house in multiple occupation. The scheme went before a panel of councillors on Thursday May 7.
The layout of the building includes 30 ensuite bedrooms, five kitchens and one large lounge and dining area on the ground floor, as well as two more HMO ensuite bedrooms upstairs. Plans show that just seven parking spaces would be provided at the front of the building, however no objections were lodged by highways due to its ‘sustainable location’.
Cllr John Slope (Moulton, Reform UK) attended the meeting to request that the committee turn the plans down.
He criticised the report for its suggestion that the level of occupancy for the building would be acceptable due to its previous use as a care home with a similar number of residents, telling the meeting that the two uses are “fundamentally different”.
He said: “I speak today as a councillor concerned about how our planning policy’s being applied. The comparison with the former care homes does not hold up.
“A C2 carehome houses supervised, mostly elderly residents, as we’ve heard, the majority of people do not drive, have managed visitor patterns and 24-hour staff presence. A 32-person HMO houses 32 independent working-age adults, each with their own travel patterns, deliveries, businesses, and shift patterns.
“If this is approved, it is a clear signal to every owner of a former care home, school, or institutional building in West Northamptonshire that this is a viable route.”
Members heard that the change of use application came forward after planning enforcement discovered the site was already being used without proper permission.
An agent speaking on behalf of Dunclent Properties told the panel that his client was a recent purchaser of the site, which at that time was being run by a supported living tenant who failed to secure referrals from the local authority. He said the rooms were then let out on a short-term basis as a HMO without his client’s knowledge.
“My client is keen to highlight that they should not be judged on the basis of breaches of planning control by the previous tenant and operator,” he explained.
“My clients are from a compliant background and very mindful of their obligations and they wish to do the right thing, hence their application before you today.”
He also told the committee that there was a “strong demand for HMO accommodation” and that the operation would be at a similar scale to its previous use as a care home.
However, councillors on the decision-making panel raised concerns around the number of parking spaces provided, how waste from 32 separate households would be dealt with, and the adverse impact the large number of tenants would have on the local community.
The HMO plans were unanimously voted down on the basis that the density and intensification of use of the building would be unacceptable.