“There is no record of any planning enforcement action or breach notices relating to the use of the property as an HMO.”

The owners of a ‘small house HMO’ have applied to Blackpool Council for permission for it to lawfully retain that usage.

They say that the property has been in that class of usage since before a change in rules was implemented by the council which made it more difficult to change a property into an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation).

An application has been lodged with planners seeking a Certificate of Lawfulness Existing which would allow retention of a 4 person use class C4 small HMO for the property at 15 Glen Street, a street that runs parallel to Whitegate Drive.

A Planning Statement on behalf of the application said: “15 Glen Street is a two-storey semi-detached residential property located within an established residential area of Blackpool.

“The property is internally arranged as a 4-bedroom dwelling, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, and has been operated as a small HMO (Use Class C4) without material change since June 2020.

“There is no record of any planning enforcement action or breach notices relating to the use of the property as an HMO.

“Blackpool Council made a borough-wide Article 4 Direction under Article 4(1) of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015, removing permitted development rights for change of use from Class C3 (dwellinghouse) to Class C4 (small HMO).

“This Direction was made on October 3 2022, which came into force on October 3 2023 but the use of the application property as a small HMO was fully established from June 2020, well before both the making and implementation of the Article 4 Direction.

“The property at 15 Glen Street has been in continuous use as a small House in Multiple Occupation accommodating 4 persons in 4 separate bedrooms since June 2020.

“Throughout that period, the property has been occupied by individual occupiers who each occupied a separate bedroom and shared the kitchen, bathroom and other communal facilities.

“There has been no material interruption in the property’s use as a small HMO and no reversion to occupation as a single dwellinghouse by one household. There has also been no planning enforcement action, enforcement notice or breach of condition notice relating to the HMO use. “

The statement says the application includes complete unredacted originals of all tenancy agreements and associated evidence relied upon which can be provided to the Local Planning Authority for verification if requested.

The statement concludes: “On this basis, the Local Planning Authority is respectfully requested to issue a Certificate of Lawfulness of an Existing Use confirming the lawful Class C4 HMO use of the property.”

The decision is pending.