Plans to develop former Walsall college into HMO rejected
Walsall Council has refused a proposal to develop a listed town centre building into a 12-bedroom House of Multiple Occupation.
The former Midlands Business Management College at 27 Bradford Street is located within the Bradford Street Conservation Area.
In the same WS1 postcode there are at least 84 other HMOs.
Over the last nine years the former college has been at the heart of several planning applications of the sort.
In May 2016 it was refused permission to be turned into an 11-bedroom HMO.
In December 2022, plans were submitted to develop it into a 16-bedroom HMO, but the application was later withdrawn.
The most recent application by BAC Property Investments Ltd has been in varying forms.
First submitted in May 2023, the proposals outlined an 18-bedroom facility with a three-storey extension on the back, then a 17-bedroom HMO, and finally, a 12-bedroom HMO with just a single storey extension to the rear.
But Walsall Council has refused the application, stating that the plans fail to provide sufficient information around the significance of the heritage asset, information about noise contamination and air quality from nearby commercial activity, and that the proposed development provides insufficient kitchen space.
