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Vandals have repeatedly targeted a house at the centre of a HMO row in Rhymney, causing criminal damage and issuing threats to “burn it down”.

A neighbour told Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee the incidents had “led to many sleepless nights over the last months, where we’ve lived in fear of what happens next”.

Applicant Vidya Giri wants to convert the terraced house at 25 Upper High Street into a four-bedroom HMO (house in multiple occupation), which would then be managed by a housing association.

But the plans drew 110 objections and a petition signed by 229 people in opposition, and committee members deferred a decision so officers could provide more information about the number of HMOs in Rhymey.

HMOs are typically properties for single, unrelated adults who have their own private bedrooms but share other communal areas, such as kitchens or bathrooms.

Case officer Joshua Burrows said the proposed conversion of 25 Upper High Street was “not considered to have an adverse impact on neighbouring properties”.

Officers also did not consider the number of HMOs in the ward “at a point where the character of the area is at risk”.

But a neighbour, Mr Williams, said there had been three incidents of antisocial behaviour there “due to the application”, including one where “a person broke into the property to carry out criminal damage, which was most disturbing to the neighbours”.

“There have also been incidents where people have banged the windows and kicked the door, shouting ‘we will burn it down,’” he said. “This has led to many sleepless nights over the last months, where we’ve lived in fear of what happens next.”

Mr Williams said he feared “a serious escalation of antisocial behaviour against the property and its residents if planning is approved”.

The committee chairman, Cllr Roy Saralis, condemned the reports of threats and criminal behaviour.

Cllr Carl Cuss, who represents the Twyn Carno ward, said he objected to the HMO plan “on behalf of residents who feel unheard, overlooked and increasingly frustrated”.

He alleged there had been a “lack of transparency” about who would be housed there, and said neighbours “have a right to understand what is being proposed in their community”.

Cllr Cuss said Rhymney had more than its fair share of HMOs and was “increasingly being targeted because property prices are lower than in the south of the borough”.

“This is not organic growth, it is exploitation– we cannot allow certain areas to carry a disproportionate burden simply because housing is cheaper there,” he said.

Senior planning officer Carwyn Powell noted residents’ concerns but said there was “no empirical evidence to prove there will always be antisocial behaviour with a HMO”. 

“I urge members and residents to understand that [we] as officers and you as a planning committee have to consider the planning merits of this proposal,” he said.

“All the emotion about fear of antisocial behaviour and fear of who’s going to go into these premises is not a matter that you can consider today.”

The applicant’s planning agent, Paul Parsons, said it would be “illegal to discriminate against any particular type of tenant or any that may possibly occupy a property”.

“My client has a business model where they purchase properties and they lease them… to a not-for-profit housing association, who will manage the tenants and will manage the property,” he said.

“These are people who need properties… who can’t afford a property, and will be housed by housing associations and come off council waiting lists. 

“I hate the way planning committees talk about ‘potential people’ as though they are scum and vermin. They’re not. They are people who need housing, and the cost of living means people can’t afford a whole flat. They can’t afford a whole property.”

The matter was deferred to a later meeting.