Willenhall pub approved to become a 10-bed HMO
A Willenhall pub has been granted permission to become a 10-bedroom House of Multiple Occupation (HMO).
A decision was made on the former Falcon Inn, Gomer Street West, at a planning committee meeting on Thursday January 15.
Committee members were ‘stuck between a rock and a hard place’ since the owners of the building already have planning permission to create a 12-bedroom HMO.
Applicant Satnam Sira said if the latest application of a 10-bedroom HMO isn’t approved, then they would carry out the existing permission which was granted in 2024.
The pub closed to the public in April 2022 and has since been subjected to flooding, fire, and metal thefts. It was sold at auction for £215,000 in 2024.
The application involved converting the property into two separate five-bedroom HMOs – one on the ground floor and one on the first floor.
A petition against the plans, launched by Willenhall South ward member, Councillor Simran Cheema, was signed by 375 people.
At the planning meeting she said local residents have ‘serious and genuine’ concerns, as the WV13 postcode is home to 12 licensed HMOs already.
She said: “We can’t keep approving HMOs one-by-one then act surprised when communities are overwhelmed.”
But members of the committee agreed that a 10-bedroom HMO is an improvement for residents rather than a 12-bedroom one, and therefore it was approved.
Deputy leader Councillor Mark Statham said: “Councillor Cheema rightly points out the negative impacts, but the negative impacts of a 12-bed is more than that of a 10-bed.
“We’re caught between a rock and hard place. The back stop position for the applicant, should we refuse it, is they’ll revert back to the 12-bed. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
Since the new approval does not invalidate the previous one, the applicant can redevelop the property in line with either permission.
