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38 Exeter Road Selly Oak Birmingham B29 6EU

2025/07245/PAFull PlanningRefused
Full

Refused on 11 May 2026

Council decision: REFUSE5 reasons for refusal

Approximate location: the centre of the postcode, not the exact property.

Proposal

Retrospective application for change of use from a 7-bed HMO to an 8-bed HMO with internal alterations and rear dormer window extension to rear side wing

Received
24 December 2025
Ward
Bournbrook & Selly Park
  1. Received24 Dec
  2. Validated24 Dec
  3. Consult.
  4. Target
  5. Decided11 May

Decided in 138 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is a full planning application for a dormer extension at 38 Exeter Road Selly Oak Birmingham B29 6EU. Birmingham has handled 10,255 applications of this type. This one was decided in 138 days, 12 weeks longer than Birmingham's typical decision time. There has been 1 other application at this address. In the past year there have been 105 applications across Bournbrook & Selly Park. We hold 1,066 applications in total for the B29 postcode area.

83% of full applications at Birmingham City Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. The design of the proposed rear dormer window would be out of keeping with the design, character and appearance of the existing house and as such would be contrary to Policy PG3 of the Birmingham Development Plan 2017, Birmingham Design Guide SPD 2022, Policy DM2 of the Development Management in Birmingham DPD 2021 and the National Planning Policy Framework.
  2. The size of the proposed rear dormer window would be out of scale with the existing house and would dominate its appearance. As such it would be contrary to Policy PG3 of the Birmingham Development Plan 2017, Birmingham Design Guide SPD 2022, Policy DM2 of the Development Management in Birmingham DPD 2021 and the National Planning Policy Framework.
  3. The occupation of the property as an HMO by up to 13 people living independently would result in an demonstrable increase in the numbers of comings and goings from the site and a greater level of noise and disturbance in comparison to the existing use as a family dwelling house. The proposed HMO would not, therefore, be appropriate to this location as it would result in unacceptable adverse impacts on the amenity of neighbouring occupiers. This is contrary to Policies PG3 and TP27 of the Birmingham Development Plan (2017), Policies DM2 and DM11 of the Development Management Plan in Birmingham (2021) and the National Planning Policy Framework
  4. The proposed change of use of the property would result in the loss of a five bedroom family dwelling house, and insufficient justification has been provided to demonstrate that the need for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in this location outweighs the important contribution this dwelling makes to the Council's objectives, strategies and policies relating to housing provision. As such, the application conflicts with Policy TP35 of the Birmingham Development Plan 2017, Policy DM11 of the Development Management in Birmingham DPD 2021 and the National Planning Policy Framework.
  5. The development would provide a cramped and over-intensive internal living environment for future occupiers by virtue of insufficient internal communal space and external private amenity space for residents. As such the scheme is contrary to City Note LW-13 of the Birmingham Design Guide SPD, Policy PG3 of the Birmingham Development Plan (2017), Policy DM11 of the Development Management in Birmingham DPD (2021) and the National Planning Policy Framework (2025).

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
B29 6EU
Application type
Full Planning
Scale / size
Small
District
Selly Oak

Planning application dates

Date validated
24 December 2025
Application expires
18 February 2026

Applicant and agent

Architect profile
MASTER DESIGN STUDIO LIMITED

Planning decision

Case officer
Rhiannon Campbell

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations at the address point. Ones next to the site may also apply.

  • Article 4 direction: City Wide Hmo
  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)
Also checked, none recorded (23)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, tree preservation orders, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Planning history at this site

1 other application at this property, newest first.

  1. 2024
    20 Mar

    Erection of first floor rear extension

    ApprovedHouseholder2024/01742/PA

Source: Birmingham

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