PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR DETERMINATION …

1 A1 PLANNING AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE 19th December 2017 PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR DETERMINATION Item 1: 07/17/1108/F Location: 107 Church Lane, Cheshunt, Herts, EN8 0DU Description: Change of use from domestic dwelling to multi-occupancy dwelling for 8 persons Applicant: Borough of Broxbourne Date Received: 26/10/2017 Expiry Date: 21/12/2017 Officer Contact: Peter Quaile Date of Committee: 19/12/2017 Ward Councillors: Cllr Sue Ball-Greenwood; Cllr Dee Hart; Cllr Paul Seeby 1. CONSULTATIONS Environmental Health recommends a maximum of eight persons to be accommodated in the house and compliance with Building Regulations, especially in respect of fire safety. If this is to be emergency accommodation, tenants should reside in the premises for no longer than six months. HCC Highways No objection with comments [see paragraph ] 2.

2 PUBLICITY The application was advertised by means of a site notice posted on 08/11/2017 and individual letters to neighbouring properties. Individual letters were sent to the following properties: 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112 Church Lane and 2 Arundel Close. 3. REPRESENTATIONS 193 letters of objection and a petition of 95 names have been received from neighbouring properties or interested parties raising the following concerns: Neighbours were not told that the council had bought the house to accommodate homeless families RECOMMENDED that; PLANNING permission be granted under Regulation 3 of the Town and Country PLANNING General Regulations 1992, subject to the conditions set out at the end of this report. A2 Many different people will be coming and going; many local residents are elderly Loss of a four bedroom family house When people do not own a property they are less likely to take care of the building and its surroundings There will be insufficient car parking Property values will be affected and this will set a precedent There will be noise disturbance from a hostel and occupants will have little regard for their neighbours A hostel would be out of keeping and will change the character of this community There may be security issues from the use there is already drug dealing by the shops and residents have been burgled This is an accident waiting to happen with tenants youngsters running around with no thought for others Putting a hostel in this property will inflict damage on all the other houses Gardens will no longer be peaceful.

3 Private and tranquil The Council should have given information to local residents about the kind of hostel and how it will affect local people The emotional and physical well-being of neighbours is being and will be harmed Children s safety will be compromised as they walk to school The Council should not have proposed this around Christmas time Problems with highway/traffic generation Why do we need a hostel in Cheshunt? Would the residents have mental health issues or be convicted persons? Would the residents have drink or drug problems? Would there be resident warden or person in charge? The proposal is against our human rights Will the Council vet potential occupiers who are likely to be from outside the area? What are the proposals to maintain fire safety? The hostel would be better located in a more central area of Cheshunt such as the Old Pond The local area is becoming over populated with the increase in new homes A hostel should not be located near to a pub, off-licence and bookmakers There are six schools in close proximity to this site This is a friendly neighbourhood, please do not put us all in fear of the unknown The Council is taking taxpayers funds to further blight this area Further pressure on local community facilities Growth of private rented sector at the expense of owner occupation There is a conflict of interest as the Council is dealing with a PLANNING application from its own wholly-owned subsidiary The scheme is at odds with the recommendation from the Senior Environmental Health Officer Will the residents be temporary or permanent?

4 Will the site be managed remotely? The property was built in 1962 and does not have modern soundproofing materials It is unclear what the proposed use class will be This use should not take place in a semi-detached property The HMO should be located among social housing or on one of the new developments in the area The accommodation will be sub-standard for the number of proposed occupants Additional strain on water and drainage systems A3 Security issues from the extended building roof between the houses Should the residents have had further time to review their objections? The residents of the adjoining house have written highlighting a number of medical conditions suffered by members of the family which they state will be exacerbated should the HMO use be approved: a letter from their GP was enclosed which confirms the medical condition of one of the next door neighbours One letter of support has been received which notes the increase in homelessness in the area and the need for this kind of facility to be provided.

5 4. RELEVANT LOCAL PLAN POLICIES The following policies of the Borough of Broxbourne Local Plan Second Review 2001-2011 (adopted December 2005) apply: SUS3 Waste and Recycling H18 Hostel Accommodation HD22 Community Safety T3 Transport and New Development T11 Car Parking The following policies of the Local Plan Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Consultation Draft November December 2017. H4 Houses in Multiple Occupation DSC6 Designing Out Crime TM2 Transport and New Development TM4 Parking Standards The National PLANNING Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012 also needs to be considered. The local PLANNING policies listed above are generally considered to accord with the policies and principles of the NPPF. The Council s Interim Policy for Houses in Multiple Occupation [approved by Cabinet April 2012] is a material consideration. The Council document prepared by the Environmental Health Service House in Multiple Occupation standards Hostels and temporary accommodation is also of relevance in this case.

6 5. LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SITE The application site is an extended semi-detached house which lies on the northern side of Church Lane near to the junction with Arundel Close. The house is arranged over two floors with a family bathroom, rear en-suite and ground floor WC. The frontage is predominantly block paved to provide parking and there is an integral garage to the side of the house. There is an enclosed private rear garden with patio, accessed via French doors. A4 Church Lane is a classified C road which provides a west-east connection into the A10. There are no other PLANNING constraints relating to the property. Property Frontage Rear Elevation A5 6. PROPOSAL The application has been amended since it was first submitted and now seeks to create a House in Multiple Occupation [HMO] with a maximum of eight occupants.

7 The applicant has also confirmed that an additional bathroom would be installed at the premises in what is now bedroom 4 at the front of the house. The residents would be housed in the property for a temporary period while suitable long term accommodation is arranged. There would be four households which would consist of one of one person, two of two persons and one of four persons. The three larger bedrooms and the living room would accommodate the homeless residents while the smallest bedroom would be house the additional bathroom. There would be a communal kitchen/dining area. Site location plan A6 7. RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY Permission was granted 24th November 2006 under reference 7/0875/06/HF for a two storey side, first floor rear extension and loft conversion. Permission was granted 26th September 2011 under reference 07/11/0634/HF for single storey rear, front extension and conversion of garage to habitable room Not implemented.

8 8. APPRAISAL The main issues for consideration in this case are as follows: i) The principle of use of a family house as an HMO ii) The impact on living conditions for neighbouring properties iii) Living conditions for future occupiers of the property iv) Highway safety and car parking v) Other matters These matters are appraised in turn below. Principle This Council-owned site is the subject of a proposal to change the use from a house to a larger HMO which would be used to house homeless local people. Members will have noted the very substantial level of objection generated by this scheme set out in paragraph above. The HMO would be emergency residential accommodation which those in housing need would occupy while A7 awaiting a permanent dwelling. The background to this application has been set out by the applicant as follows: The Council is under considerable pressure from local people who become homeless and require temporary accommodation pending a more permanent solution being found.

9 As at November 2017 there were 460 households in temporary accommodation placed by the Borough of Broxbourne, including 270 local families with children Of these around 100 are in short term nightly paid accommodation and a similar number are currently placed out of the Borough, meaning they will find it more difficult to access local schools, employment and social networks. There is therefore a pressing need to increase the amount of temporary units within the Borough, to add to the 10 residential facilities of this type that the Council currently manages. These are situated in Cheshunt (3), Bury Green (2), Waltham Cross (2), Hoddesdon (2) This would allow more displaced local families to be relocated in their local area. The Council has a corporate statutory obligation to house certain categories of person in housing need under the terms of the Housing Act 1996 Part VII [as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002].

10 In terms of town PLANNING , the Council is subject to national government guidance in the NPPF which in Chapter 6, paragraph 47, states that local PLANNING authorities should, use their evidence base to ensure that their Local Plan meets the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the housing market The Council should, therefore, make provision over the lifetime of the Local Plan to cater for the housing needs of all categories of person in the local authority area. As further background information, Members should keep in mind that a change of use from dwelling house to an HMO does not need PLANNING permission if no more than six individual occupants would be living in the house. The context set out above makes it clear that the Council is legally required to provide accommodation for homeless local people. The number of local people and families in need is increasing which means that it is necessary to find additional accommodation within the Borough as the existing facilities are insufficient.