Scarborough Council has approved the application for the conversion of a guesthouse into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO).
M C Ventures Ltd applied to the local council to get the change of use for 136 North Marine Road to allow it to be used for 8 occupants.
The council’s planning committee was asked to make the decision as it would be the fourth HMO within a 100-metre radius, which goes against council policy.
However, the councilors were told that one of the HMOs was right on the 100-meter boundary and if the application property was at 134 rather than 136 then there would be no questions.
Several members of the public objected to the change of use, with some of them concerned about the loss of holiday accommodation in a tourist area.
However, the report prepared for the council was saying that the property had not been holiday accommodation for a number of years.
It added:
“The applicant’s agent has confirmed that the applicant purchased the property in July 2018 on the understanding that the property was already in an HMO use, having been a home for adults with learning disabilities since 2015.
Prior to this, the guesthouse had been used as temporary accommodation for homeless persons, since 2009.”
At the end of the meeting, the change of use was approved by the committee.