People living in a street in Brislington are calling on planners to refuse permission for one of the houses to be converted from a regular three-bedroom terraced home to a shared house for up to nine people.
Residents of Wick Road say there are already several Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in their street, and another one would exacerbate parking problems, and begin to change the character of their Edwardian terraced street.
The plan, submitted by a landlord from Easton, has been submitted to Bristol City Council ’s planning department and has already received 54 objections so far from people living in the immediate area. Both the two local councillors, Tim Rippington and Katja Hornchen (Lab, Brislington East) have also objected, and ‘called in’ the application so that, if planning officers think it should be permitted, it would have to go before councillors at a committee first.
The house in Wick Road is, at the moment, a standard original two-up-two-down terraced home built in around 1910, with a kitchen extension at the back and a third bedroom and bathroom above that. The plan would transform the home into a six-bed HMO for up to nine people.
The two main rooms downstairs would become the shared kitchen-diner and living room, the kitchen at the rear would be converted into two single en-suite bedrooms, the three bedrooms on the first floor would be en-suite double bedrooms, and a single en-suite bedroom would be created in a loft conversion. The smallest room, one of the two created from the kitchen, would be just 6.51m2.
It’s a practice that’s becoming increasingly common in Bristol’s Victorian and Edwardian terraced streets, and there are planning policies to try to limit HMO conversions in areas where there are already a lot. One of the rules deals with ‘sandwiching’, where a regular family home ends up with HMOs on both sides.
Most of the 54 objections from neighbours raise parking issues in Wick Road and the surrounding streets, but many also talk about the ‘character’ of the street. “This location, characterised by family homes and schools, does not appear suitable for an HMO, as it may disrupt the area’s cohesion and place additional strain on local infrastructure,” wrote one neighbour, who objected.
“We have lived here for the last 50 years and in that time parking and traffic has increased greatly,” wrote another neighbour. “With a primary school across the road and with the current parking issues that can cause a danger to pedestrians and the children coming in and from school, I do not think an HMO house is a good idea. Where will these people park? Parking is very difficult for us and this gets even busier at school drop off and pick up times. There are other roads near by and everyone is struggling trying to find a place to park. Also being a residential area of terraced houses the noise and rubbish will be greatly increased,” they added.
Local councillor Tim Rippington said there were too many HMOs in Brislington already. “The proliferation of HMOs in Brislington East is of concern to myself and many local residents,” he said. “I am objecting to this application as I believe that, although in the strictest sense this may not breach the council’s planning guidance in relation to ‘sandwiching’, the presence of two other HMOs almost directly opposite the property makes it very close to being so.
“There is also a nearby 10 Bed HMO at 23 & 23a Manworthy Road which is under construction at present, and several others on Pendennis Road. Wick Road is a very busy road with a school nearby, and traffic is already very difficult – so I also believe that bringing another HMO to the area will have a negative impact on the transport situation in the area,” he added.
Council planners are due to decide on the scheme in the coming weeks.