LDRSPlans to convert a family home into a four-bed shared house have been rejected.
Bolton Council’s planning committee unanimously turned down the plans to change the three-bed property on Begonia Avenue, Farnworth, due to concerns over lack of space.
The authority could now be liable to pay compensation to the applicant as, under the previous legislation, the conversion would have been permitted.
In June, Bolton Council agreed tougher plans to restrict the amount of HMO in the area by forcing any potential multiple occupancy homes, regardless of size, to have planning approval.
Under UK planning law, a property can be divided among six occupants without the need for planning permission and the subsequent consultation with local people.
But local authorities can enforce their own rules, with Tameside Council most recently pushing through tougher laws on HMOs as they declared “war on slum landlords”.
‘Spell the end’
Councillor Sue Haworth addressed the committee to oppose the plan.
She said: “This is a close-knit family street.
“Residents say to change the character by adding in a HMO ‘would spell the end of our local neighbourhood’.
“Please act to prevent Farnworth’s streets being more proliferated by HMOs”.
A Begonia Avenue resident also spoke at the meeting to oppose the plans.
“We are a close-knit neighbourhood with no issues, and [we] all get on.
“There are 10 houses on this part of the avenue and they are all families and elderly people that have lived there for 10 years to more than 40 years.
“Not one resident wants this HMO”, she said.
