A lack of parking space on old Wolverton street was not a strong enough reason on its own to block a five-bed HMO, councillors decided.
Committee members agreed, with Councillor Paul Alexander saying “it’s going to cause a major problem.”
But the committee’s officers said even though the parking spaces could not actually be provided on the site, rejecting it for that reason would be on shaky ground.
Senior planning officer, Richard Edgington, said: “Would that stand up at appeal?”
And committee chairman Councillor John Bint said: “We would probably be arguing over one-fifth of a space.”
MK Council’s parking policies say that a 5-bedroom HMO would need half a space per bedroom, making 2.5 spaces in total.
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Even though the only parking outside the property, which is above the Post Office, is daytime one-hour parking, because the property is already there, it is assumed to comply with policies.
Councillor Bint said: “There is a parking problem, and it is a pre-existing problem, and so not a reason for refusing this. As a reason for refusal, parking is less likely to stand up at appeal.”
But council officers made a case for refusing that an existing issue with refuse storage would be much worse if the change was allowed.
“Due to this lack of storage,” said Mr Edgington in his report, “there is an increased likelihood that the storage of waste may spill out onto the street, thereby having implications on the character and appearance of the street scene, and the amenity of adjacent occupiers.”
The application hasn’t been approved yet.