AIBU to object to a large co-living dwvelopment near my home?

Have they bought the chip shop as well, as I would imagine thats a hard sell, to try to rent places out next to a chip shop as the sort of fancy space they say they are proposing.

Ive found the newspaper article about it. Of course the developers talk about it all very fancy. I dont know the area so not sure if some of their claims are right that this would retain and attract graduate talent to the area or whehter its well served by public transport.

They're going to extend the central section of the property

Its a shame they cant just do up the property as it is, and use the retail space on the bottom for residential and just have a lower key, smaller number of rooms, the property seems in keeping with the rest of the street at the moment.

its the people in the street behind, Netherburn Rd who are going to be most impacted by quite a big structure going up at the end of their back gardens.

Despite all the pearl clutching on MN, the reality is that very few people would be happy about a HMO being built next door to them. Regardless of who the occupants will be, 18 people in one house inevitably leads to a lot of people coming and going, noise and also possibly parties and anti social behaviour.

It might be totally fine and might be filled with 18 very quiet ‘young professionals’ but it might also not be. As a PP has pointed out, in an area where accommodation is quite cheap (unlike the equivalent in London), the chances are that it could easily become a hostel or halfway house which do tend to attract bigger social issues. If you’re ok with that, great! A lot of people wouldn’t be though. It’s not mean or cruel to have concerns.

I think the problem with HMOs in an area with cheap housing is that they do not attract young professionals, because young professionals can rent a 2-bed flat or get a mortgage for £700 a month. Therefore the HMOs are half empty, don't make the investors much money so become poorly maintained, and then attract problematic tenants and eventually, contracts with local councils to house homeless (with complex needs) or drug-addicted people who local services then wash their hands of as they're now safely housed.

I always object on the planning portal at the local council.

Anyone is able to object regardless of where you live.

I never object directly to the developer. I always see developers try and encourage this on local Facebook pages with a “have your say” page of their own but this means the people making the decision in the planning office will not see objections.

OP I would not want a group of rough people moving in. But I just don’t think you can object because you are worried about the ‘type’ of people coming in. Do you have any idea of the kind of rent/sale prices?

I found it too. It sounds quite nice, with a garden pavilion and communal
spaces and balconies etc. But I guess I also know how estate agents and developers can exaggerate!

I'm in the NE found this easily from your wording. It's near a football stadium. Not exactly a quiet residential area.

Some time back I got a letter which showed that the owner of a property opposite wanted to turn it into an HMO. I contacted several households nearby and we co-ordinated our efforts to object. We used parking and access grounds - the access to the house was already a "turning circle". There had been previous issues with noise at the house and an HMO was out of character with the area, The other objecting families were of an ethnic group who did not want young single males hanging around their daughters. Planning was refused. The owner tried again a year later but was again refused. Eventually the property was sold to a multi-generational family who used the extra accommodation for elderly parents..

What is this rubbish?
People aren't reading it we are finding problems in our own local areas when houses get bought and turned into HMO's. I wouldn't know what the media are saying. I haven't seen any coverage about it. It's a big problem round here. It's based on personal experience that it's a problem it's not something we read about in the paper

I think you’re getting a bit of a hard time here OP. We had an HMO planning permission app for a large development. None of the rooms were legally correct, it got denied planning. The developers went ahead anyway and it’s now housing people, they’re not young professionals and the council is trying to retrospectively get it shut down. It’s dangerous, you can see people smoking inside and it looks like an accident waiting to happen. I think some people commenting here haven’t experienced the reality of what some HMO developments have turned out to be. If you’re concerned you should delve into it as we’ve watched the council here really struggle to manage this retrospectively - it’s been a year and still here.

I don’t know how things are in Sunderland but in the south east there are plenty of professionals aged 30+ living in a bedsit with communal areas and they don’t own cars so don’t need parking spaces. If everyone objected to HMOs near them then they’d have to start taking in lodgers or lots of people wouldn’t have anywhere to live

I think this is unfair and not in the spirit of the planning process. Where full planning permission is sought, there is a mandatory consultation period (i.e an invitation to interfere).

If OP’s experience of the area she lives in is that HMO = crime, it’s natural for her to be concerned. Developers are free to apply for planning permission and anyone is free to object.

The decision maker/s can then weigh up the evidence before them.

They are an amazing option for young professionals and should be available all over.
there are a few gorgeous ones in London! Which area?

OP, I think you need to open your mind and if you can’t do that, mind your business, you don’t understand it. It’s ok to not understand, it’s not ok to interfere.

Everyone deserves somewhere to live. Developments are going up everywhere and we all just need to deal with it.

I think you need to be clear about what planning can and can’t control. Planning regulates the land, not really the users of it (except in limited circumstances like student flats, over 55 developments, affordable housing etc).

You could request a robust management plan with 24/7 on site management but you would need to clearly set out that the fear of crime is based in actual local stats etc not just speculative or a determination to keep out people that you find to be undesirable.

In Sunderland? Get real.

They probably can in Sunderland

Ok Nigel .. I’m out.. this is getting a bit rage- baity now