St John’s Foundation’s plans to convert the upper floors of two neighbouring 17th century properties in the centre of Bath to a 10-bed house in multiple occupation (HMO) have been approved.
The upper floors will be converted into an HMO
The community charity sought planning permission and listed building consent from Bath & North East Somerset Council to turn the first to third-floor levels of 15 and 16 Westgate Street into a 10-person HMO with shared amenity space and bathrooms.
The upper floors of No. 15 are currently three flats but there is just vacant space above the betting shop at No. 16.
In the 1960s the staircase between the ground floor and first floor was removed, so the upper floors can only be accessed by lifting an acoustic ceiling tile and using a ladder.
As a consequence, they have not been used for more than half a century and a number of historic features, such as fireplaces and cupboards, have survived.
Bath & North East Somerset Council planners said the provision of a staircase and separate access to the upper floors of No.16 has posed a significant challenge.
The reinstatement of the historic staircase and formation of a separate entrance by re-designing the shopfront would be preferential, but that would result in the ground-floor shop being too narrow to be commercially viable.
The scheme therefore includes making an opening between two Grade II listed properties at the first-floor level.
The council received two objections to St John’s Foundation’s scheme, citing concerns about the residential use in proximity to commercial premises and the size of the HMO.
However, council officers said all 10 rooms would be of a fair size and the building can accommodate the number of occupants proposed over the three floors.
They said that as the location is in the city centre, some noise and disturbance can be expected, so the change of use will not cause significant harm to neighbouring occupiers.
The council has policies in place to protect neighbourhoods from being swamped by too many HMOs.
This application will not result in a residential property being “sandwiched” between two HMOs, nor result in 10% or more of households in a 100-metre radius being HMO accommodation. In this case, it is just 4%.
No cycle parking will be provided at the HMO because there is no external space to store bikes. Council officers accepted that there is limited opportunity for dedicated cycle storage, and being a listed building creates additional difficulty.
They said: “As such, it is not considered that a refusal reason on this basis could be sustained, given the sustainable location of the property and publicly available stands.”
