'Ridiculous' plan to make two HMOs fit for 20 people out of former Jesus Army house in Northampton neighbourhood thrown out

A neighbourhood association in the Mounts is celebrating after a plan to convert an empty Jesus Army townhouse into two HMOs fit for 21 people was rejected by the borough council.

A plan was put to the council's planning board in April to convert the former shared religious house at 99 Colwyn Road into two separate houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs).

The proposal would have split the three-floor terraced property into a total of 20 separate en-suite rooms with four communal kitchens between them.

However, the plan was refused at a planning meeting last week following an outpouring of objections from neighbours who protested the impact of 20 more residents in a community already strained by noise, parking troubles and overflowing bins.

One letter read: "Colwyn Road is already saturated with HMO properties.

"I object to this application. This area already struggles with parking, regular double parking. I am unable to park after working shifts as a nurse.

"The amount of rubbish that the street accumulates and the dumping of rubbish has increased massively over the past 16 years of me living here. Noise and anti-social behaviour have also increased.

"Allowing an HMO of this size would increase pressure on all of these issues and make for intolerable living conditions."

The letter was one of just 25 sent to the council by neighbours who all objected to the plan. Two seperate letters labelled the plans "ridiculous", and another claimed HMOs had already made parking and living in the neighbourhood "a daily battle."

A planning statement submitted by The Pegasus Group in support of the HMO argued that because two HMOs would be made up of single rooms it was less likely to encourage couples or families with cars. The plans also included a cycle storage in the garden.

But at a planning meeting on July 31, the borough council rejected the proposal on the grounds it would have in effect led to 23 per cent of all properties within 50m of the building being HMOs.

The decision reads: "This would be detrimental to the character of the area... The proposed development would have a detrimental impact upon parking provision."