27 Denmark Road, Twerton, Bath

27 Denmark Road forms part of a Grade II early 19th century residential terrace, situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. The terrace is modest in scale at two storeys, with a regular two bay form in Bath stone ashlar, although the majority of dwellings in the terrace have since been painted or rendered. Historic England notes that 27 Denmark Road, along with neighbours at 21, 22, and 26 Denmark Road, remain “reasonably complete”; a large number of dwellings have had their original doors and windows replaced with inappropriate modern alternatives, whereas 27 Denmark Road retains traditional style tripartite windows on the ground and first floors and a 6-panel front door.

Whilst not a planning matter, we question why an HMO licence was granted to the property in June 2021 when one of the first floor bedrooms failed to meet the measurement requirements of 6.51m2. The stud wall of the bedroom was consequently altered in October 2021 without listed building consent, which this application seeks to retrospectively address. We consider that the granting of an HMO licence to a building that does not already meet the specified requirements therefore places undue pressure for this listed building to be altered on grounds of minimum residential amenity, rather than enabling the appropriate weight to be attributed to how alterations may impact its special historic and architectural interest. We maintain a building, either listed or unlisted, should meet the appropriate standards before a licence can be granted.