Green light for village flats to be converted into five-bed HMO

Council planners have granted permission for a new HMO in Senghenydd.

The proposals for 79 Commercial Street will allow two existing flats to become a house in multiple occupation for five people.

HMOs are typically properties where individual, unrelated adults have their own bedrooms but share other facilities such as kitchens, bathrooms or living areas.

Caerphilly County Borough Council planning officers decided the conversion of 79 Commercial Street would not lead to a “significant increase” in the number of people living at the property.

The work will not involve external changes to the building, and will not lead to any “increased overbearing, overshadowing or overlooking impacts”, they added.

Many councils, including Caerphilly, control how many HMOs can exist in any one neighbourhood – in this case the planners said the addition of another HMO to Senghenydd would not cross the 10% threshold.

They judged the HMO conversion would not “significantly change the immediate character of Senghenydd”, or “detrimentally impact” the amenity of neighbours.

No neighbours objected to the proposals during a recent consultation period, according to the council’s planning report.