Tividale HMO expansion plan recommended for approval after neighbour petition

The planning application submitted to Sandwell Council would see the existing three-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO) in Ashtree Road, Tividale, Oldbury, extended into a five-bed HMO.

Two objections and a petition with 15 signatures against the HMO extension were submitted during public consultation.

The planning application includes a single two-storey side and single-storey rear extension to add a further two bedrooms.

The application will be determined by Sandwell Council’s planning committee at a meeting in Oldbury on January 7.

Planning officers at Sandwell Council have recommended the application is approved when councillors meet next week.

The original plan to extend the home to make way for a seven-bed HMO was later scaled down.

The council said the proposed extension was “excessive” and would have had a “significant impact” on light and outlook for the next-door neighbour.

A report by the council’s planning officers published ahead of the meeting said: “The reduced extension is considered to be acceptable and would not cause undue harm to the attached property, which is also extended and therefore mitigates significant harm.

“The two-storey extension would be wholly to the side of the existing property and of a sufficient distance from neighbouring properties as to raise no appreciable concerns.

“The area is characterised by mixed house types of differing ages, some of which have been extended over the years. The proposed extensions would assimilate into the area, and the extended HMO would appear as any other property in the street.

“[There is no evidence] that the occupants would be more likely to engage in anti-social behaviour than those of any other larger family home in the street.

“Indeed, the property already functions as a HMO and no claims of wrongdoing by residents has been raised.”