Residents and councillors clash with planning system over HMO approval
Councillors and residents have criticised the planning system after an eight-bedroom HMO was approved in a conservation area.
On June 18, Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee approved a change-of-use application to convert a family home at 12 Burbidge Grove into an eight-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO).
The plans attracted 105 objections and were called in by local ward councillor Peter Candlish, cabinet member for transport. Despite the opposition, council officers recommended approval, citing the application’s compliance with the council’s local plan and the national planning policy framework.
Speaking on behalf of local residents, Paul Woolf acknowledged the “pressure” on the council to follow national policy while also maintaining protections for family homes. He warned that this balance is under threat.
He said the policy “risks being fundamentally eroded by the steady stream of HMO applications” and added: “Residents of Portsmouth are entitled to have a voice and to have that voice heard, sadly the planning system appears to operate in ways that genuine concerns are washed away amidst a combination of fear shown by the council to enforce its own polices and the lemming-like drive to honour national guidelines.”
Cllr Candlish echoed these concerns, arguing the application does not align with the character of the Craneswater and Eastern Parade conservation area.
“There are many stands to the concerns that residents have raised and, unfortunately, I’ve had to explain to many of them that some of them are not material to planning concerns in the eyes of the law – which this committee is bound to follow.”
He went further, saying many of these concerns are “deliberately excluded in laws that are framed to favour the developer over the resident,” and that the law has “weakened the ability” of the committee to resist inappropriate developments and apply a “holistic” approach to decision-making.
Councillor Judith Smyth, who supported the application, said she “fully understands that nobody likes change” but stressed that HMOs are a “crucial part” of the city’s housing stock, given the shortage of homes in the city.
The application was approved following an unsuccessful motion to refuse it by Councillor Russell Simpson, who cited disruption to the conservation area as a reason for rejection.