Hastings family home can be converted into eight-bed HMO after appeal decision

Splitting a six-bedroom house in Nelson Road into both a one-bedroom self-contained flat and an eight-bedroom Home in Multiple Occupation (HMO) were approved last week.

The original application was refused by Hastings Borough Council in March last year on the grounds it would result in the loss of a ‘single-family home’ — a type of property which local planning policies seek to retain.

The inspector disagreed with this assessment citing the council’s lack of a five-year housing land supply as a reason why the scheme should have been approved.

In their decision notice, they wrote: “The proposal would cause harm to the supply of family sized homes in the borough. However, the loss constitutes only a single unit and, in the absence of evidence to suggest that the impact of this loss on the overall stock would be significant, this harm would be at the lower end of the scale.

“The proposal would continue to provide a self-contained unit on the site, albeit of reduced size, and would not therefore result in a reduction in unit numbers. In addition, the proposed eight HMO rooms would make a contribution towards the provision of housing in the borough and would comply with the aims of the NPPF insofar as it seeks to boost the supply of homes.”

Ultimately the inspector granted permission with conditions including the installation of a cycle storage shed.

There were some contradicting accounts of whether the property is currently a single family dwelling, but both the original application and the appeal treated it as such.