Argument over ‘controversial’ HMO rumbles on after local OUTRAGE

The debate over a ‘controversial’ HMO will rumble on after Oldham councillors voted to defer a decision on plans that have sparked local outrage. 

Property owner Footlong (UK) Ltd is planning to extend a house at 3 Kevin Avenue in Royton to create a six-person house of multiple occupation.

But more than 40 neighbours have objected to the plans, and a petition to block the proposal has gathered signatures from almost 60 different households. 

Speaking at a planning meeting last week, local resident Angela Collier told a planning committee: “There’s been a lot of upset and anger over this. We’re a good, mixed neighborhood. We’re a community who look after one another. 

“But it’s about the turnover. The turnover [at HMOs] is constant and you simply don’t know who is going to move in. We’ve got a nursery at the end of the street, some of the neighbours foster, there’s children and grandchildren. It’s just a concern.” 

Pictured above: 3 Kevin Avenue, Royton. From: Google Maps.

Collier added that the roads were already ‘very busy’ with parking and congestion posing a significant issue for the neighbourhood. 

“Some of the men have vans for work and they actually struggle already getting round that corner in the morning, because of the amount of cars that are [parked] there.” 

The plans state there is room for three cars on the driveway, but Collier argued they’d ‘struggle to get their doors open’. Fears were also raised that under the current rules, which entitle each household to two street parking permits, the HMO would be eligible for 12 spaces. Town planners believed the property would only be entitled to two, but were asked to confirm this as part of the deferral. 

Council officers argued there was simply ‘no justifiable planning basis to refuse the application’ under current planning law, even with the increased HMO powers introduced by the council at the start of this year. 

“One property won’t change the character of the whole community,” said Peter Richards, assistant director of planning for the council. “And we’ve all had experience of nightmare neighbours – that’s unfortunately not unique to HMOs.” 

A number of councillors expressed their disappointment with the plans, with Cllr Maggie Hurley accusing the committee of being ‘tied up in bureaucracy’. 

Chair of the committee, Cllr Marc Hince said: “I’m personally against HMOs. But planning is largely about legislation and if we refuse an application it needs to be on proper grounds.” 

The majority of councillors voted to defer the decision, meaning it will return to the planning committee at a later date.