Old Town Residents Association has responded to a planning bid to change a Bath Road house into nine-unit house in multiple occupation (HMO).
A bid relating to 39 Bath Road has been submitted to Swindon Borough Council by Andrew Whiting via agents Ian Sullivan Architecture Limited.
It asks for a change of use from offices to a nine-person house in multiple occupation (HMO).
Residents' Association co-chair Karen Thomas described the bid as one of the better ones OTRA had seen in the area, but nevertheless highlighted a number of concerns.
She said: "Generally too many HMOs in the area can lead to problems with rubbish, parking, anti social behaviour and a lack of engagement in the local area, from a high turnover of tenants.
"HMOs do provide a more cost effective form of accommodation for people, given the cost of property now vs the level of wages.
"We've seen a range of applications in the area covered by OTRA, and this is one of the better ones, given the size of the property vs the proposed number of rooms.
"That said, people living close by, may well feel that they could be impacted if the property is not well managed, and we should aim to see more engagement and responsibility from landlords."
The co-chair added: "As the building was previously converted to offices, quite a lot of the original features will have already been removed. The current plans don't require wholesale changes to the structure i.e. no large extension, so the building could be converted back into a single home in the future.
"Some parking is retained - it may not be enough, and relies on the landlord to apply sensible rules. The number of rooms looks OK for a HMO in this size of house with some shared space provided.
"It is a shame that the conversion isn't to self contained flats with a smaller number of people being accommodated in the building."
It asks for a change of use from offices to a nine-person house in multiple occupation (HMO).
Residents' Association co-chair Karen Thomas described the bid as one of the better ones OTRA had seen in the area, but nevertheless highlighted a number of concerns.
She said: "Generally too many HMOs in the area can lead to problems with rubbish, parking, anti social behaviour and a lack of engagement in the local area, from a high turnover of tenants.
"HMOs do provide a more cost effective form of accommodation for people, given the cost of property now vs the level of wages.
"We've seen a range of applications in the area covered by OTRA, and this is one of the better ones, given the size of the property vs the proposed number of rooms.
"That said, people living close by, may well feel that they could be impacted if the property is not well managed, and we should aim to see more engagement and responsibility from landlords."
The co-chair added: "As the building was previously converted to offices, quite a lot of the original features will have already been removed. The current plans don't require wholesale changes to the structure i.e. no large extension, so the building could be converted back into a single home in the future.
"Some parking is retained - it may not be enough, and relies on the landlord to apply sensible rules. The number of rooms looks OK for a HMO in this size of house with some shared space provided.
"It is a shame that the conversion isn't to self contained flats with a smaller number of people being accommodated in the building."
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