A CARDIFF house in a “state of disrepair” that’s become “a blight” will be turned into a house of multiple occupation (HMO) despite the concerns of residents.
Cardiff Council’s planning committee approved the plans relating to a house on Llanbedr Avenue, Fairwater, at a meeting on Thursday, September 4.
The applicant and those in favour of the HMO argued that this area of Cardiff needed more accommodation for young people.
However, residents and councillors are worried about the impact turning a home into an HMO for eight people will have on traffic and the character of the area.
Cardiff Council Propel ward member for Fairwater, Cllr Neil McEvoy, said the plans “clearly will have an adverse affect on local parking” and that having more HMOs in the area will encourage a high turnover of transient people and the weakening of community bonds.
Cllr McEvoy went on to call the proposal an over development of the area and one that would be “completely out of local context”.
He added: “[It is a] clear case of over development and grab the money where you can”.
A petition objecting to the plans was signed by 67 people, with residents raising similar concerns to Cllr McEvoy.
They also fear development of the HMO will set a precedent for more projects of a similar nature in the area.
Council planners tried to assure Cllr McEvoy and local residents that Cardiff Council had safeguards in place to prevent an over-saturation of HMOs in communities, like the threshold policy.
In most parts of Cardiff, apart from Cathays and Plasnewydd, this policy aims to restrict the approval of further HMOs in areas where such developments make up 10% of dwellings there.
The threshold for Cathays and Plasnewydd is 20%.
A number of the council’s planning committee members found themselves unable to vote against the plans, but they did have their own concerns.
Cllr Garry Hunt said the scheme did “seem to tick every box” in terms of planning policy, but he added that he still felt a “certain unease” about the proposal and called it an “excessive conversion”.
Another planning committee member, Cllr Sean Driscoll, said the building was in a state of disrepair and called it a “blight on the area”.
However, he went on to add that he didn’t feel the area was best suited for HMOs.
A council planning report on the HMO states that the proposal is considered acceptable against amenity space criteria in the local authority’s planning guidance.
Plans for the HMO show private living spaces to range in size from 8.6sqm to 13.5sqm.
Cllr Driscoll said: “These have been described as flats. Do they meet the minimal standard and size for this type of accommodation… does the inside meet the minimum requirement?
“When you look at bedroom eight at 8sqm, I don’t think this is achievable.”
On consultation about the plans, Cardiff Council’s operational manager for traffic and transport confirmed the provision of one car parking space was acceptable.
The development will also include cycle parking spaces and is considered by the council to be in a sustainable location with public transport links.
