Jarrow hotel to be turned into housing despite objections over crime, parking and schoolchildren's safety

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has approved an application for The Alexandra Hotel, which sits on the corner of High Street and Minster Parade in the town.

Plans submitted last year (2024) sought permission to change the use of the building from a former hotel to two HMOs, a property type which includes multiple households living across separate bedrooms with access to communal facilities.

The proposals for The Alexandra Hotel included one house in multiple occupation (HMO) at ground floor level and a separate HMO at first floor level, along with the creation of a roof terrace above an existing garage, a new door and the “replacement of all windows with uPVC”.

A design, access and heritage statement submitted to council officials noted the pub had been vacant for years and confirmed the first floor had already been used as “stop over accommodation” by ‘building company operatives’.

It was noted that the planning application aimed to “regularise the use of the first floor as an HMO” and to “convert the ground floor into a separate HMO”.

During a council consultation exercise on the plans, there were nine public objections from a number of addresses, including an objection from Dunn Street Primary School, and various concerns were raised.

This included concerns about noise issues, anti-social behaviour, waste collection, parking pressures and wider “safeguarding concerns” linked to the proposed roof terrace area, given its proximity to a school and nursery.

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After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department approved it on February 14, 2025.

A council decision report said the application sought full planning permission to “regularise the existing situation with a five-bedroom HMO proposed to the ground floor and a five-bedroom HMO proposed to the first floor”.

It was noted that the proposed ground floor HMO had been reduced from six to five bedrooms and the application description had been amended to reflect this, as well as the addition of a car parking area with three spaces and an internal cycle parking area for 12 cycles.

Council planners said that the principle of the development was acceptable at the site and that the “proposed use would be compatible with the surrounding area which is mixed-use in character”.

It was also argued that the proposal would “not result in any significant harm to residential amenity, visual amenity highways safety or biodiversity” and that the HMO would not give rise to “unacceptable levels of crime or anti-social behaviour either in and of itself or cumulatively together with other nearby HMOs”.

Council planners stressed that “the planning system is concerned with land use in the public interest, rather than the individual users of that land use” and that “day-to-day operational matters and management associated with the proposed use” were the responsibility of the building’s operator.

The council decision report added: “Residents have raised objections to the application on the basis that it is already occupied by 12-15 people however this application is seeking to regularise the current planning breach.

“The number of occupants proposed would be 10 and this would be controlled via a HMO licence (which is required for five or more occupants per HMO).

“Regarding two HMOs being in close proximity, there are no planning policies expressly prohibiting this, however this is assessed more generally as part of Policy DM4 and the overall impacts of the proposal cumulatively on the amenity and character and nature of the locality.

“In this regard, the location of two HMOs within the building is not considered to adversely impact upon this.

“Concerns have also been raised regarding the loss of a home in favour of single adults however the previous use of the property was as a hotel / public house (so was not residential).

“In this regard and whilst the concerns of residents are noted, it is considered that the proposal would result in a more varied mix of housing provision in an area that would assist with meeting particular housing needs, particularly as the previous use of the site was not wholly a residential use and is located in a predominantly residential area.

“It is not considered that granting the proposed use would materially conflict with and undermine the immediate area’s overall general character.”

On concerns about the roof terrace, the council decision report noted that the area would be “bounded by the building to its eastern and southern sides, and a 1.9 metre high gable wall to the east […] would prevent overlooking to properties at High Street”.

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The council decision report added: “The terrace would face towards Dunn Street Primary School at a distance of approximately 34 metres at the closest point, and concerns have been raised by residents and the school on grounds of overlooking and safeguarding issues, and the use of this in terms of general noise and disturbance.

“However this is considered to be a large distance to the primary school and significantly in excess of the 14 metre distance set out in the SPD9 Householder Design guidance which is considered acceptable for a proposed two-storey or upper floor extension facing the front or rear elevation of an adjacent property.”

Council planning documents state that up to ten people could live at the property, with five bedrooms in each HMO and one person per bedroom, along with a communal kitchen and living room facilities.

It was also noted that CCTV had been installed inside and outside the building and that there would be a “full time caretaker” for the site.

Those behind the planning application previously said the HMO conversion would be used by a “large building company” based in the south of England which is “contracted for a large building project in Newcastle”.

Applicants added the creation of the two HMOs would “form excellent facilities for the applicant to provide good quality accommodation for the company’s workforce whilst they are working in the north east of England for the next two to three years”.

It was also argued that the HMO accommodation plan would bring a “disused building” back into use and “in the long term […] form an important part of the residential stock within the town.”

For more information on the planning application and council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0534/24/FUL