55 York Road Northwood

1. 1.The proposed development, by reason of the change of use of the property from a self-contained dwellinghouse to an 8-person House in Multiple Occupation within a sui generis use, would result in the loss of a dwelling capable of family occupation and has failed to demonstrate that this loss would be justified having regard to the Council's adopted housing mix objectives. The proposed HMO would also fail to demonstrate compliance with the Council's adopted policy framework for HMOs, having regard to the intensity of occupation, substandard living conditions for future occupiers, unacceptable harm to neighbouring residential amenity and the failure to demonstrate adequate and deliverable parking provision. The proposal would therefore represent an unacceptable and over-intensive form of HMO accommodation in this location, contrary to Policies DMH 2 and DMH 5 of the Hillingdon Local Plan: Part Two (2020), Policies H9 and H10 of the London Plan (2021), and the objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024).
2. 2.In the absence of a submitted transport appraisal and travel plan demonstrating that a substandard level of off-street parking would not be of detriment to the immediate roadways, as required by the local parking standard for the proposed level of occupancy, the proposal has the potential to lead to additional undue/injudicious on-street parking displacement to the detriment of parking capacity and safety on the local public highway, contrary to Local Plan: Part 2 Development Management Plan (2020) - Policies DMT 1, DMT 2 & DMT 6 (Appendix C) and Policy T4 of the London Plan (2021). The proposal is refused for an unacceptable impact on highway safety in accordance with paragraph 116 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024).
3. 3.The proposed development, by reason of its increased number of independent occupiers, would generate materially greater noise, comings and goings, and garden use than the existing C3 dwelling, resulting in unacceptable disturbance to neighbouring residents. The submitted HMO Management Plan does not adequately mitigate these effects. The proposal is contrary to Policies DMH 5 and DMHB 11 of the Hillingdon Local Plan: Part Two (2020), Policies D3 and D14 of the London Plan (2021), and Paragraph 135(f) of the NPPF (2024).
4. 4.The proposed development, by reason of its over-intensive layout, would result in a number of bedrooms being subject to poor outlook, limited privacy, reliance on obscure glazing, and proximity to sources of noise and disturbance, including parking areas and shared spaces. As such, the proposal would provide a substandard level of accommodation for future occupiers and fail to deliver a high- quality residential environment. The development is therefore contrary to Policies DMH 5, DMHB 11 and DMHB 16 of the Hillingdon Local Plan: Part Two (2020), Policies D3 and D6 of the London Plan (2021), and Paragraph 135(f) of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024).
5. 5.The proposed development, by reason of the loss of soft landscaping within the front curtilage to facilitate additional hardstanding and parking, would impact more than 25sqm of onsite habitat and would therefore not fall within the de minimis exemption for Biodiversity Net Gain. No statutory Biodiversity Metric, baseline habitat assessment, or details of how a minimum 10% Biodiversity Net Gain would be achieved have been submitted. In the absence of this information, the Local Planning Authority cannot be satisfied that the development would comply with the statutory biodiversity gain objective. The proposal is therefore contrary to Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended, Policy G6 of the London Plan (2021), and the objectives of the NPPF (2024).

From the council's decision notice.

Application type

Full

Scale / size

Medium

Date validated

26 January 2026

Neighbour consultation start

5 February 2026

Last date for comments

24 February 2026

Target decision date

7 April 2026

Agent address

Mr. Shloime Godlewsky Unit 4 Grosvenor Way London E5 9ND

Statutory period

71 days

Documents

4