HMO plan lodged for South Shields building in Westoe Road

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has received a planning application for a property on the junction of 52 Westoe Road and 2 Elizabeth Street.

The building, which sits in the Beacon and Bents ward, includes a residential use on the upper floors and a retail shop space on the ground floor.

Back in 2021, plans were approved to form a HMO across the upper floors above the existing shop and partially at ground floor level.

Now new plans have been submitted by Building Castles LLP.

The proposals aim to change the use from a six-bed HMO to allow for a “maximum of nine beds” in the building.

An application form submitted to council development bosses sets out the reasons for the changes.

The planning application states the new proposals for the vacant building were due to more space being available for accomadation.

It reads: “The building is currently empty, but work is expected to start soon to implement the current planning approval to convert to a shop with HMO above.

“The HMO can sleep more than six people hence the need for a further planning application.”

Proposed floor plans show how the building’s floors would be subdivided to bring forward the expanded HMO use.

This includes introducing a bedroom on the ground floor, with space for two beds, as well as bedrooms and communal facilities across the upper floors.

Floor plans list seven bedrooms in total, but application details state the residential development would cater for a maximum of nine people.

In addition, the entrance to the HMO is expected to be taken from Elizabeth Street, with a shop entrance retained on Westoe Road.

A decision on the planning application will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Comments on the application can be made up until March 15, 2023.

For more information on the planning application or to track its progress, visit South Tyneside Council’s online planning portal via the local authority’s website and search under the reference code ST/0084/23/FUL