Havering Council has turned down a plan to expand a HMO near a primary school, citing concerns from neighbors and inadequate living conditions.
Rainham: A planning application to add five more bedrooms to a four-bed HMO next to Newtons Primary School has been turned down by Havering Council.
This proposal was put forward by Redwoods Project for a Mr. Brander and was actually a redo of a previous application that got rejected back in September.
They refused it again for the same reasons, mainly that it would take away a much-needed family home in the area and that the communal spaces just wouldn’t cut it for the people living there.
Interestingly, the current application admitted that the place was already being used as a small house in multiple occupation, meaning different folks were renting out the rooms.
School House is right next to the primary school, with its front lawn sitting beside the school’s car park.
Sixteen neighbors and even a councillor voiced their objections, saying a big HMO isn’t suitable near a school and could pose a threat to the school community.
In the end, the planning officer noted that School House, with its 85 square meters of space, didn’t meet the size requirements for HMOs.
The report pointed out that there wasn’t enough communal space for everyone to use at the same time, which would be a problem for the residents. So, they concluded that the application didn’t align with local policies and recommended it be refused.
