ELEVEN-bed HMO set to be approved in Rothwell

A house in Rothwell looks set to become an 11-bed HMO (house of multiple occupation) despite protests from concerned neighbours.

Developer Kevin Jones wants to turn Westview, a detached Victorian-style house on the corner of Kettering Road and Gordon Street, into a new home for just under a dozen people across three floors.

An extension would be built to create a triple garage and a first floor roof space would be converted into accommodation, with off-street parking spaces for 14 vehicles.

North Northamptonshire Council officers are recommending councillors give the plan the green light at a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) - but those who live nearby are far from happy.

One neighbour said they had seen the building "change from a family home with a well-maintained garden into a building that, over the past few years, has become a place with multiple occupants on the inside and a scrap yard on the outside".

They cited numerous occasions when they have had to speak to people over what could "best be described as anti-social behaviour" including loud music and people urinating against a fence as well as vermin, burning of items and allegations of drug taking and drunken arguments.

Another neighbour said: "The dwelling is already a very large property. This proposed extension will make the property even larger and therefore out of scale to other property in the neighbourhood, being ugly and overbearing."

And another said: "I moved into my home in 2015 and during that time the said house has always been occupied by a number of different people and in my view has been used as an HMO, which I feel the council must have turned a bind eye to."

Rothwell Town Council, however, say they have no objection to the plan.

Floor plans show a communal kitchen/dining area with four en-suite rooms on the ground floor, a further four en-suite rooms on the first floor and 3 en-suite rooms on the second floor.

The basement area would be used as a communal laundry space with the existing timber outbuilding removed and the majority of the garden forming on-site parking.

The existing brick wall that runs alongside the north boundary, fronting Gordon Street, would be reduced in height and the existing double gates would be removed, allowing for improved visibility when exiting the site.

Last year plans for a nine-bed HMO on the same site were refused for a number of reasons, including insufficient provision for on-site car parking and manoeuvring space, which planning officers said has now been addressed.

A report set to be discussed by councillors said: "The building is in a state of disrepair and it is considered that by granting planning permission the works required to bring the living accommodation up to standard including the works to the car park and the removal of the timber outbuilding would improve the overall appearance of the property within the street scene."

Under the plans all of the bedsits would exceed the Government's minimum HMO room sizes of 6.51 sq m.

A planning report added: "The proposal is a sustainable development within a sustainable location and will provide the type of housing which there is a demonstrable need for within the NN area."

Last month the Northants Telegraphrevealed how nearby Corby had become the go-to destination for HMO landlords looking to make a profit.

The town had 263 registered HMOs compared to 87 in Kettering and 60 in Wellingborough, with many hundreds more not registered because they were housed fewer than five people.

You can read more about our investigation into HMOs at https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/how-corby-became-the-go-to-destination-for-hmo-landlords-3305192.

The Rothwell HMO application will be decided at the council chamber in Bowling Green Road, Kettering, at a meeting which starts at 7pm tomorrow.