South Shields: More fears over spike in crime as another Ocean Road guest house is turned into big new home

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has given the green light to an application for a property at 57 Ocean Road.

Applicant Together Haus Ltd lodged an application with the council earlier this year seeking planning permission to convert the six-bed guest house into a six-bedroom HMO.

A range of internal works were proposed to facilitate the HMO use, including a large kitchen, living and dining area on the ground floor and converting an existing living room into a bedroom, along with cycle storage for residents and visitors in a rear yard area.

Proposed floor plans showed one bedroom on the ground floor, three bedrooms on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor, with the majority of bedrooms having ensuite bathrooms, and one bedroom having an off-suite, as well as an additional W/C within the building.

A planning, design and access statement from the applicant maintained there was not a “proliferation of HMOs within the immediate vicinity” and said the proposal would not lead to a “cumulative adverse impact” on the area.

It was argued that the plans represented the “re-use of a building within the built up area” and that the property was “of a suitable and appropriate size for the proposed use.”

During a council consultation exercise on the plans, Northumbria Police’s ‘designing out crime officer’ raised concerns about the “upturn in HMOs in the area of Ocean Road South Shields” and noted there was “no provision for any parking associated with the development”.

The police consultation statement also raised concerns about new residents and “the potential to increase the demand on the local services through inter residence disputes and crime.”

A council ‘community safety’ consultee also made recommendations for a “robust management plan” to be submitted for the HMO, along with a “robust anti-social behaviour procedure” for future residents.

Elsewhere, the council’s highway authority raised no objections to “zero in-curtilage car parking provision” and said “residents and visitors [could] utilise off-site car parking opportunities, as would have been the arrangement for the previous use of the site”.

Council highways officers added the “HMO use is likely to generate less traffic than the previous guest house use.”

The council consultation exercise on the plans also saw two public objections raising concerns about the “proliferation of HMOs within South Shields”, noise and disturbance, additional traffic, crime and other issues.

After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department approved it on March 19, 2025.

A council decision report noted proposed bedrooms “show single beds, and therefore occupancy would be for six persons” and said the site sits within a “mixed-use area, comprising commercial and residential uses”.

It was argued that the HMO proposal “in isolation” would not “give rise to a significant change to the area’s overall general character or mix of housing”.

Council planning officers added that the “application property is considered to be of a suitable and appropriate size for the proposed use and to provide occupants a reasonable level of amenity”.

It was noted that “the planning system is concerned with the land use in the public interest, rather than the individual users of that land use” and that “day-to-day operational matters and management” linked to the HMO “ultimately rest with the operator of the premises”.

Council planners said consultee responses from the police designing out crime officer and community protection did not identify any “direct evidence” that the proposed HMO use, either “individually or cumulatively” with other HMO uses in the area, would generate “an unacceptable level of anti-social behaviour / crime / fear [of] crime”.

The council decision report adds: “In terms of cumulative impact of a concentration of HMO properties, in the context of Ocean Road and the wider immediate area in South Shields, it is not considered that the proposal would give rise to an unacceptable over concentration of HMOs in the locality.

“Furthermore, it would not conflict with emerging local plan policy 16 (HMOs) requirements, including for the Lawe Top area […] the proposed use is an acceptable use of the property, the property is of a suitable size to accommodate it, and it is also acceptable in terms of the consideration of residential amenity and the character / nature of the locality, crime or fear of crime.”

Developers, in a planning, design and access statement, previously said the proposed change from a guest house to an HMO “would not change the character or demographic make-up of the area.”

Developers also said the HMO was “not a development that would undermine the community cohesion or crime or fear of crime considerations, and would also assist with the council meeting the housing needs for the local area.”

The planning approval for 57 Ocean Road comes days after another planning approval for a HMO at 81 Ocean Road, which involved a conversion from a guest house into an eight-bedroom HMO.

Under planning conditions, plans for 57 Ocean Road need to be brought forward within three years.

For more information on the plans, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search application reference number: ST/0744/24