15 Stanley Road West, Twerton, Bath

The property is located within an area of high HMO density, with approximately 68% of the properties along Stanley Road West licensed for HMO use. The street was formerly situated within the local authority’s designated area of over 25% HMO saturation, prior to the Local Plan Partial Update.

Evidence of HMO licencing has been provided from January 2015, although the applicant indicates that the property has been in HMO use from 1996.

Whilst not a planning matter, we question why there is such a significant disparity in the time between the granting of ongoing HMO licencing (the latest granted September 2019, see 19/01993/HMO) and applying for planning permission. This is despite several licences being granted following the introduction of the Article 4 Direction for planning restrictions on change of use from C3 to C4 (HMO) use in 2013.

As such, this appears to be reflective of an ongoing disconnect between the licencing and planning controls used to manage HMO use within the city.