Plans to turn closed Wellingborough hotel into huge HMO for up to 23 people despite no parking provision

The hotel became a hostel, The Seen and Heard, during the Covid-19 pandemic before it was told by North Northants Council that it must close ‘at the end of March 2024.’

Now, the 19-bedroom building in Midland Road, Wellingborough will be repurposed to provide accommodation for almost two-dozen people.

A planning document reads: "The proposed development would make a positive contribution to the housing requirement for Wellingborough through the provision of 23 new rooms within a large HiMO. This proposal also offers an appropriate opportunity to bring a vacant building, positioned within a sustainable location, back into viable use.

“It is considered that the proposed development would deliver much needed residential accommodation in a highly sustainable urban location, making most effective use of a vacant and underutilised building.”

The front of the building’s exterior will not be altered as part of the outlined conversion, however plans include an extension to the rear of the building for cycle storage to ‘encourage sustainable methods of transport.’

The application insists the extension will not exceed the height of the existing building, thus will not negatively impact on the visual effect of the area. It also notes the same materials will be used as the current rear of the building to keep in line with the buildings current appearance.

Because the adjoining courtyard requires the cycle and refuse storage space, plans do not include provision for off-road vehicle parking spaces. Instead, the planning statement notes that there is ‘no need for parking to be provided on site due to the significant amount of available parking spaces within the surrounding areas on-street.’

The Imperial Euro Hotel closed on a permanent basis in 2019 shortly after the death of Jonathan Upex, and was vacant until being brought back into use as a shelter for homeless people. The Seen and Heard was used as a bridge towards more stable accommodation for vulnerable residents, but in 2022 the death of Chereen Scotland would draw more attention to the issue of occupancy at the former hotel.

When The Seen and Heard closed early last year it sat vacant once again, and now the applicant, Investment Street Ltd, believes the HMO will help it be ‘brought back into viable use in order to deliver much needed accommodation to the area.’

Milton Keynes-based Investment Street runs 40 HMOs across the country. Its website says it specialises in the ‘BRRRR’ strategy (Buy, Refurbish, Refinance, Rent, Repeat).