PLANS to change a two-bedroom house into a five bedroom House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) in the St Julians ward have been approved despite concerns.

A HMO is accommodation run by a private landlord, with bedrooms rented out to unrelated tenants who share facilities such as bathrooms and kitchens.

The plans for 215 Caerleon Road include two bedrooms, a kitchen and a communal lounge on the ground floor, in addition to three bedrooms, a bathroom and a WC on the first floor.

All rooms will have a maximum of one occupant. There is also a communal garden at the back of the property.

Concerns were raised in relation to a lack of parking, the possible impact on social cohesion, and antisocial behaviour issues.

The ward councillor for St Julians, Carmel Townsend, has previously described the current situation of parking on the road as a “nightmare” which would be made worse by the proposed development.

A five-bedroom HMO requires six car parking spaces, including a space for each tenant and one visitor space.

The property does not have any on-site spaces, therefore the shortfall is to be made-up by on-street parking. The report states that a parking survey conducted by the applicant shows the parking shortfall can be accommodated.

At the planning committee meeting held on Wednesday, June 1, Cllr Phil Hourahine, who also represents St Julians, spoke against the application.

Cllr Hourahine said: “The property is going to be marketed to young professionals working in Cardiff and Newport – do we know many young professionals who don’t own a car?”

He added that the parking capacity which is currently at 87.5 per cent was too close to the 90 per cent stress level that would mean the application had to be refused.

In total, twelve responses were received from neighbours – three in support of the application and nine objecting to the plans.

One resident who was in support of the application said: “Newport needs to see the struggle of young people and those with low salaries, with all the difficulties in current times, I think parking is the last concern on the list.”

At the meeting, the applicant and owner of the property, Luke Gregory, said he had a budget of £50,000 to renovate the property and “invest in the area to make St Julians better”.

He added: “I wouldn’t invest my personal finances if I thought this would be a drug house or for a gang.”

The approval of this application raises the percentage of HMOs within a 50m radius of the property to 14.3 per cent – surpassing the threshold of 10 per cent.

The threshold aims to avoid an over concentration of HMOs in one area.

According to the report, an internal paper by Newport City Council’s planning department concludes that there is a correlation between high concentrations of HMOs and negative complaints made to the Council, and recorded crime and that therefore the Council should continue to try and control the concentration of HMOs.

In her objection to the application, Cllr Townsend said: “St Julians is getting more than its fair share of HMOs and it isn’t a fair distribution, when areas such as Allt-yr-yn, Caerleon, Marshfield et al, are not so encumbered.

“Not all HMOs bring problems with them, but they do cause problems with parking, with litter – both bins and recycling – sometimes antisocial behaviour and the removal of family properties from the neighbourhood.”

The application was approved by the planning committee with Cllr Jason Jordan and Cllr John Jones voting to refuse it.