Four applications for planning permission to convert residential houses into houses of multiple occupation were applied to Oxford City Council during the last few weeks. All of those applications appeared on the latest weekly planning list released by the city council.
The proposals for HMOs are for the following homes: 12 Windale Avenue, Blackbird Leys, two homes called Karam House and Fatima House at 84a and 84b Crescent Road, Temple Cowley, 56 St Luke’s Road, Cowley, and 21 Haynes Road in Marston.
Residents in the areas haven’t given their opinion on this yet. HMOs are sometimes unpopular among the neighbors.
Also last week Oxford City Council’s east area planning committee went through an application to turn 18 Addison Crescent, near Donnington Bridge Road, into an HMO.
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Even though neighbors were against that, due to the other 7 HMOs on the street causing parking issues, the application was successfully approved by the Oxford City Council.
Oxford has the 14th highest number of registered HMOs in England and Wales and 20% of the city’s population is estimated to live in such properties, many of them students and commuters.
The city council was previously praised for its hard position on HMOs by the Oxford Civic Society, because landlords here not only need to register their property but must seek planning permission as well.
Oxford City Council requires all homes with three or more unrelated residents to be registered as an HMO.