Plans for five-bed Smethwick HMO for 14 people redrawn after ‘cramped’ criticism
A move to convert part of a shop into a HMO has been redrawn after previous ‘cramped’ plans were rejected for not providing enough space for couples to eat.
Sandwell Council rejected an application to convert the shop in Hagley Road, Smethwick, on the border of the Black Country and Birmingham, into a house of multiple occupation (HMO) for up to 14 people.
The new plans would see the building converted into a five-bed HMO after criticism from the local authority’s planners.
The ground floor shop would also remain after plans to replace the unit were also condemned for ‘breaking up’ the Hagley Road shopping parade.
A statement included with the new application said: “The HMO comprises five single-occupancy bedrooms only. No bedroom will be shared.
“All tenants will be unrelated, working-age adults in employment or full-time education.
“The property is not intended for vulnerable persons, care-leavers, ex-offenders, refugees or supported housing and will not be let for those purposes.
“By ensuring that every room is larger than the required threshold, the development not only complies with statutory guidance but also provides residents with a higher standard of comfort and usability.”
Sandwell Council’s planners threw out the plans by WeStruct Consulting Engineers in November saying the proposed living space in the building would be “inadequate” and shared areas were “substandard.”
A report outlining the objection said: “As twin occupancy rooms, the internal space of each room would be cramped with no adequate living area to compensate, especially considering the maximum occupancy for the HMO could be as high as 14 people.
“It would be unlikely that two people could comfortably eat meals in the bedrooms and there is insufficient space for quality leisure and mealtimes in the proposed communal area.
“The internal space is unnecessarily over intensive and unacceptable in respect of design policy.”
The plans had also faced criticism for ‘splitting up’ the rows of shops in Hagley Road and for the potential to add to parking troubles.
However, the council did not object to the plans over the shortfall in parking given the existing shortage.
“The proposals would involve the loss of a ground floor retail unit which currently forms part of a continuous parade of ground floor retail and commercial units along the busy Hagley Road,” the council’s rejection continued.
“The proposals involve changes to the front elevation to facilitate the residential use which would visibly break up the continuous parade of retail frontages and be detrimental to the visual appearance and character of the parade and the retail function of the town centre
“The internal arrangement proposes inadequate living space and shared areas for occupants which would result in a substandard living environment.”
