Plans to convert a Chingford family home into a house in multiple occupation have been lodged with Waltham Forest Council.
The proposals, submitted earlier this month by Shqiponja Plaku, would repurpose a two-storey home in Lower Hall Lane into an HMO housing six tenants. HMOs are properties where individual residents rent rooms and share amenities such as kitchens and toilets.
The property is the middle of three terraced houses, and the applicant describes it as "comfortable" thanks to a loft conversion on the third floor. Under the layout put forward, one person would live in a single bedroom on the ground floor, alongside a communal toilet, kitchen and living room. The first floor would hold a single bedroom and a two-person bedroom plus a communal toilet, with a further two-person bedroom and en-suite bathroom in the loft.
"Given the acute need for residential accommodations within the borough, the applicant believes this use of the property is appropriate and should be granted permission," a planning statement reads.
That need is the argument HMO applications in London tend to lean on, and it runs up against the objection they tend to attract. Existing neighbours sometimes raise concerns about overcrowding on the street and antisocial behaviour.
The applicant has attempted to head that off with an HMO management plan setting out how tenants would handle "property maintenance, noise levels, and neighbourly conduct". Residents would be asked to follow a set of rules, including "treating fellow occupants, neighbouring residents and visitors with courtesy and respect" and "avoiding excessive noise, anti-social behaviour or any activity that may cause nuisance or disturbance to other occupants or neighbouring properties".
