Plans refused for large HMO in South Shields over parking and highway safety concerns

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has blocked an application for 3 Dean Terrace in the town’s Simonside and Rekendyke ward.

Plans submitted earlier this year aimed to convert the property from a ‘dwelling house’ to a development offering 10 bedrooms.

A HMO is a property type where multiple households live separately while sharing common areas, including kitchen areas and living space.

Proposed floor plans for 3 Dean Terrace included a mixture of bedrooms with en-suite facilities and ‘bedsits’ with their own living, cooking and sanitary facilities.

A design and access statement submitted with the plans said the current site is a “vacant dwelling house with five bedrooms spread across four floors, including the basement and an existing loft conversion”.

The development from applicant Scott-James Properties Ltd aimed to provide 10 bedrooms, including seven bedsits, at the site with a communal ground floor kitchen, external yard and bin and cycle storage.

Those behind the scheme said all rooms would “have access to the shared kitchen located on the ground floor, predominantly to be used by the three bedrooms that do not have their own cooking facilities”.

It was also noted that “all rooms have their own en-suites” and that a “car-free development is appropriate in this location”, due to the “site being located in an economical position in terms of access to public transport”.

During a council public consultation on the plans however, there were 13 letters of objection and two petitions in opposition, with one having 66 signatures and the other 29 signatures.

Objections ranged from “limited parking” and increased anti-social behaviour, to concerns about the future occupants, property value impacts and increased noise and disturbance.

According to a council report, the applicant provided information to the council around planned lettings and management processes, including inspections, cleaning of communal areas and all prospective tenants being “fully referenced”.

After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department refused it on October 31, 2024.

Council planners, in a decision report, said the plans would “result in the intensification of use of the property to the detriment of the amenity and highway safety of the proposed and neighbouring occupiers”.

It was noted that the application property was located in an area “comprised of predominantly single family dwellings” and towards the end of a cul-de-sac with “no off-street car parking” proposed.

In this context, council planners said the “intensity of residential use proposed at the property would be harmful to the residential amenity of neighbouring occupiers and highway safety given the level of increased comings and goings and vehicle parking and manoeuvring from residents, visitors and deliveries associated with use of the property”.

It was argued that the increase in vehicles and parking pressures could result in “disputes, nuisance and potentially highway safety concerns if indiscriminately parked vehicles get dispersed further from the development site”.

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Council planners added the “intensity of the residential use proposed would give rise to a poor-quality residential environment for future occupiers of the application property”.

This included “poor natural light and outlook for bedsit 4 in the basement and bedsit 6 in the loft space and lack of privacy and noise pollution in respect of bedroom 1 on the ground floor given its close proximity to the shared kitchen and outlook over the rear curtilage amenity space area.”

Applicants previously argued that a HMO at Dean Terrace would “not result in an over-concentration of HMOs in the surrounding area”.

Those behind the HMO plan added it would be a “positive addition to the area, providing living space for those in need of lower-cost accommodation.”

The applicant has the right to challenge the council refusal decision by lodging an appeal with the Secretary of State.

For more information on the planning application or council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0385/24/FUL.