HMO plans for 6-bedroom terrace house in Oxford approved

A report to Oxford City Council’s planning committee considered minor amendments to an earlier scheme already granted for the property in Steep Rise in northeast Oxford.

The previous permission, approved on Thursday, October 24, allowed the demolition of a side extension and the construction of a two-storey side extension and a part-single, part two-storey rear extension.

Under the latest, part‑retrospective application, the house has now been signed off as a six-bedroom HMO.

READ MORE: Plans proposed for an eight-bedroom HMO in Bicester

Several changes already completed on the site, include four new windows, alterations to the flat roof as well as new bin and cycle storage.

Four-bedroom terraced house will be converted into a six-bedroom House of Multiple Occupancy in Sheep Rise, Oxford (Image: Robin Akers Ltd)

The finished layout will provide six en-suite bedrooms of at least 8.5sqm, a 24.6sqm kitchen-diner, additional communal space and a utility area off the kitchen.

The scheme was called in to committee by six councillors over concerns about the proliferation of HMOs in the area and whether communal cooking facilities would be adequate.

However, planning officers said “the development would make the best and most efficient use of the site”, delivering a “high quality and sustainable development”.

Oxford’s Local Plan caps HMO numbers at no more than 20 per cent of properties within 100m of any application site.

Officers reported that only one of the 24 nearby properties is recorded as an HMO, meaning that, with this approval, around 8.3 per cent of homes in the immediate area will be in shared use.