Plans have been submitted to Waltham Forest Council to convert a two-storey terraced house in Chingford into a house in multiple occupation for six tenants.
The application, lodged by Shqiponja Plaku, covers the middle property of a row of three terraced houses on Lower Hall Lane. HMOs are properties where residents rent individual rooms and share amenities such as kitchens and bathrooms.
The proposed layout spreads the six tenants across three floors. The ground floor would hold a single bedroom alongside a communal toilet, kitchen and living room. The first floor would contain a further single bedroom and a two-person bedroom, plus a second communal toilet. A two-person bedroom with its own en-suite would occupy the loft.
The applicant's planning statement makes the case on housing need, arguing that given "the acute need for residential accommodations within the borough", converting the property to an HMO is an appropriate use of it.
That argument cuts both ways in practice, which is why applications of this kind tend to draw attention. HMOs add bed spaces at the cheaper end of a rental market with little slack in it, and they do so without building anything new. But they can also be contentious with neighbours, where the concerns typically centre on overcrowding and antisocial behaviour.
The application appears to anticipate that. Alongside the plans, the applicant has submitted an HMO management plan setting out expectations of tenant conduct, including that residents show "courtesy and respect" and avoid "excessive noise, anti-social behaviour or any activity that may cause nuisance".
The council has not yet reached a decision on the application.
Reporting by Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter, for the Waltham Forest Echo.
