Student digs conversion is refused

A council employee wanting to convert his home into student digs has had the plans rejected.

Mark Starling wanted to transform a two-storey house in South Street into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO).

But the proposal was thrown out by the city council’s planning committee as the area is covered by an Article 4 direction, which allows the city council to rein in the spread of student housing in residential areas. .

The power leaves landlords needing planning permission for such conversions where the saturation of HMOS in an area exceeds 10%. Allowing Mr Starling’s application would have seen the South Street number jump from 10.2% to 11.4%.

Developer Bob Britnell told the meeting: “I understand the policy to restrict student housing, but that policy has to be followed with a modicum of common sense.

“This is a four-bedroom property, occupied by four adults, and it would become a five-person property. We are looking to add one more person to the household – it is a negligible change.”

But committee member Nick Eden- Green ( Lib- Dem) said respecting the Article 4 direction was important. “Yes, it would only be a negligible change but that is why we have Article 4 to prevent the creeping increase in numbers,” he said.