Bid to cram extra HMO bedrooms into garden blocked by inspector

Plans to squeeze three bedrooms into the garden of an existing riverside HMO have been blocked.

The owner wanted to transform an outbuilding at Rivermead in Spurlings Road, Fareham into three extra bedrooms to serve the existing six‑bed shared house.

But the scheme was thrown out – first by Fareham Borough Council in 2025 and now by a planning inspector.

In plans submitted to the council in the summer of 2025, the applicant, named Kahan, wanted to use a detached outbuilding near the M27 as three single en-suite bedrooms.

This would “free up” more communal space inside the existing HMO, the owner said.

The application said that the outbuilding’s size and position had already been signed off when it was put forward as a gym and swimming pool, adding that only the internal layout was changing.

The proposals stated that the garden building would have no kitchen or separate front door, and the new rooms would share the existing communal kitchen and living areas, which the owner said meant there was no new planning unit and no real change of use.

However, planning inspector V Goldberg was not convinced by the explanation given.

In the decision, made on July 16, the inspector said the “real test” was whether the use of the garden building was incidental to the enjoyment of the home, and found that sleeping space is a basic part of living in a house, not an add‑on.

Shifting three bedrooms into the outbuilding might give a “better internal layout” and bigger communal areas in the main HMO, the inspector said, but it still resulted in the garden building providing core residential accommodation.

Liberal Democrat councillor David Hamilton, who represents Wallington and Downend, said he was pleased the appeal had been dismissed.

He added that the decision showed “this wasn’t just an outbuilding like a home gym or hobby room – it was being used as extra bedrooms”, and that a change of that scale “should go through the normal planning process” so it gets the proper level of scrutiny.

The inspector warned that adding the label “ancillary” on a garden building is not enough if, in reality, it is being used as extra living space.

A bid for a lawful development certificate was refused by the council in August 2025.