The council had ‘not provided any evidence’ to back up its decision, the Planning Inspectorate found
Hull City Council ‘behaved unreasonably’ in refusing planning permission for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in the Avenues ward, the Planning Inspectorate has found. The council‘s decision to reject plans to turn three flats into one 7-bed HMO has now been overturned at appeal.
Earlier this year, the authority rejected an application which sought to turn 28 Dover Street into a 7-bed HMO with bedrooms across three storeys. Ahead of the application being submitted, it was used as three, one-bedroom flats.
The application was discussed at the council’s planning committee on April 23, 2025 after being ‘called-in’ by Cllr Karen Wood. Ahead of the meeting, the application was recommended for approval.
Cllr Wood spoke during the April meeting, raising concerns over the number of both HMOs on Dover Street. “To create yet another multi-occupancy property in that street would be very detrimental to the area,” she said.
The application was refused by councillors, by 10 votes to 0, with 2 abstaining from the vote. The reason given for refusal was that the plans “would create an additional demand for on-street car parking and in the absence of suitable off-street parking the proposed development would lead to an unacceptable impact on the amenity of the surround area.”
However, prior to the meeting, the applicant undertook a parking survey which found there was “easily sufficient space on Dover Street to allow for extra cars, and there was no evidence to suggest a HMO would create parking issues.” After the application was refused by the council, the applicant launched an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
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The Inspectorate ruled in favour of the applicant and has overruled the council’s decision, therefore granting planning permission. It also found that Hull City Council had “behaved unreasonably by not providing an objective analysis to substantiate the reason for refusal.”
“The council has not provided any evidence to refute the appellant’s parking surveys. The highway authority has not objected and there is little evidence before me to suggest that the surveys are incorrect”, the inspectorate found.
“I was able to see from my site visit that there were several available spaces along both sides of the street. Whilst I appreciate my observations were only a snapshot during a weekday mid-morning, I have little evidence to suggest they were not representative of typical parking conditions.”
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