Enforcement Action Recommendation

A HOMEOWNER in Westcliff who converted a semi-detached home into seven flats without planning permission could be forced to rip out bathrooms and kitchens.

A house in Park Road, situated in the Milton Conservation Area, was given permission to be used as an HMO in 1991, but subsequent plans for it to be used as four flats were refused in 2021.

Before this, three of the rooms were converted to flats in 2015 without planning permission, before ensuite facilities were installed in the three rooms and a planning application to retain this work was refused.

Planning officers, who are now set to recommend enforcement action, said the limited size of the flats and their lack of any storage space “would result in cramped living conditions and a poor-quality residential environment.”

Planning officers added: “Given the harm identified due to the substandard sizes of the flats and impact on their residents’ living conditions, it is considered reasonable, expedient and in the public interest to pursue enforcement action in the circumstances of this case.

“Enforcement action in this case will reasonably aim to cease the unauthorised use as seven self-contained flats and to secure the removal of the WCs or of the full bathroom facilities or of the cooking facilities within each of the rooms, the full removal of sleeping facilities from one unit and the provision of at least one shared WC or bathroom or kitchen or lounge area so that the property returns to its lawful use as an HMO.”

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