THE NUMBER of planning applications for HMOs in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) has “increased noticeably” over the last two to three years, according to a new council report.
The report, presented to RCT Council’s overview and scrutiny committee, focuses on the main issues arising in the provision of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) across Rhondda Cynon Taf through the consideration of planning applications submitted to the council.
It says that up until the last two to three years the number of applications received by the council seeking a change of use to an HMO had been relatively consistent.
But during the last two to three years the number of applications seeking planning permission for a change of use to HMOs has increased noticeably.
But it says this isn’t just a Rhondda Cynon Taf trend and that this is an increase that’s also been highlighted by many neighbouring councils across South-East Wales.
The report says it is also apparent that applicants are often from further afield than perhaps the more local landlords who had historically sought planning permissions for HMOs within the county borough.
In a the two year period from June 6, 2024 to May 31, 2026, the council received 22 valid applications, including one retrospective application for the retention of an HMO.
The council made decisions on 28 applications during this period, some of which were submitted before June 6, 2024.
Of the 28 determined applications, nine applications were decided by officers under delegated authority and 19 were decided by the council’s planning committee.
The 28 decisions resulted in planning permission being granted in nine cases and refused in 19 cases.
Of the 19 refusals to date, 10 appeals have been lodged with PEDW (Planning and Environment Decisions Wales).
So far decisions have been issued for nine of these appeals, with one case currently ongoing.
In terms of the appeals that have been decided, six were allowed with the inspector overturning the refusal of the council and granting planning permission and three were dismissed thereby supporting the refusal by the council.
The report says that planning applications for HMOs often attract third party objections with some of the more frequently used objections being substandard living conditions, waste and refuse, noise and disturbance, strain on public services, loss of family housing and the background of potential occupiers and fear of crime.
It also states that in the majority of cases where planning permission has been refused for HMO schemes, the decision has been made by the planning committee.
Even though an officer recommendation may have been to approve the application, councillors have concluded that the standard of the living accommodation to be provided would be of poor and substandard quality, to the detriment of the living conditions of future residents.
Councillors’ concerns over the impacts on parking and highway safety has also been to the forefront of their objections in a number of cases.
Further concerns about waste management, the loss of a family dwelling, noise and disturbance and the sustainability of the location
have all been highlighted.
When the new HMO use classes were introduced around 10 years ago, issues arising from the presence of HMOs given their geographic concentration was only really an issue of planning concern within and in close proximity to the Treforest ward.
The report says this was as a direct consequence of properties within that immediate area being bought up and converted for use as HMOs by students, given the presence of the University of South Wales campus.
The requirement, introduced in 2016, to get planning permission for a change of use from a Class C3 to Class C4 led to the submission
of an increased number of applications over the following 12-18 months.
The vast majority of these applications, in the region of 15-20, were refused at planning committee.
Of those refusals a high proportion were the subject of subsequent appeals lodged with the Planning Inspectorate for Wales (PINS Wales) and in almost all cases those appeals were allowed by the PINS appointed inspector, who granted planning permission.
The report says that what became clear from this pattern of inspectorate decisions, which overturned the decision of the council, was that specific supplementary planning guidance (SPG) for HMOs in Rhondda Cynon Taf was needed to help support the council’s position in those cases where the decision was to refuse permission.
The council’s HMO supplementary planning guidance document was adopted and published in May 2018 and this supplements the policies and proposals within the Rhondda Cynon Taf Local Development Plan (LDP).
The report says this SPG document acknowledged the negative impacts that an over concentration of HMOs can have on a community, such as Treforest.
It also sets out measures which look to identify when the concentration of HMOs in an area has reached a level considered to adversely impact upon the community and provide guidance on standards of HMOs and how they should be developed.
