Neighbours and ward councillors have objected to a planning application to convert a family home into a seven-bedroom shared house.
The application, for 65 Ladies Mile Road, Patcham, is due to go before Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday 2 October after neighbours sent in 13 objections.
Patcham and Hollingbury ward councillors Alistair McNair and Anne Meadows also objected to the proposal for a shared house taking up to nine people at the address on the corner of Ladies Mile Close.
Officials have advised councillors to approve the plans for the two-storey semi-detached house. The property has a two-storey extension, dating back about 20 years, and this would contain five of the seven bedrooms.
The property would be the only shared house – or house in multiple occupation (HMO) – in the area, according to a report to the Planning Committee. It was registered as an HMO last year by the owner Bridget Haxby, of Hill Drive, Hove.
The planning statement prepared by Mrs Haxby’s agent, Lewis and Co Planning, and submitted on her behalf, said: “The site has been historically occupied by our client, their family and a number of exchange students.
“The proposal provides a mixture of one-person and two-person bedrooms. Some bedrooms include provision of en suites and some units have shared bathrooms.
“All bedrooms are above the HMO standards for room sizes. The application site provides a large garden which serves as a private amenity space for occupiers. The proposed development provides a high quality of accommodation.”
The planning statement also said that people living in shared houses were less likely to have their own cars although the lack of a controlled parking zone suggested that parking in the area was “not strained”.
Councillors McNair and Meadows said that the area was not one associated with HMOs but rather family homes shared by between two and four people.
The councillors said: “The current property owner uses their home to house students so it can be assumed that this HMO will be for unsupervised students.
“Students can have irregular hours compared to neighbouring families, either because of late-night part-time jobs or because of active social lives.”
They also said that parking was becoming an issue in the area while an anonymous objector, whose details were redacted by the council, said: “Ladies Mile Close is used daily by local school staff, parents dropping off and picking up children apart from the residents and the available spaces would just not cope overall.
“There would be extra problems with rubbish and recycling being collected as the council vehicles used have to back down the close as there is no way they can turn around.
“Also, if non-residents use the parking available, it is possible that those vehicles would not be able to reverse safely down the close.”
Another anonymous objector, whose details were also redacted, said: “Patcham is principally an owner-occupier residential area with families and children, thus multiple occupancy on this scale in a semi-detached house may change the demography of the road.
“Whoever occupies the bedsits may not respect the locals and one must bear in mind that many people living in this road retire at a reasonable hour in order to get up early to go to work.
“Will the owners of the property be living there in order to supervise?”
The Planning Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm on Wednesday 2 October. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.