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63 Donnington Road, Reading, RG1 5NE

PL/25/1536Full planning permissionRefused
Full

Refused on 26 January 2026

Council decision: RefuseDelegated (officer decision)3 reasons for refusal

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

Proposal

Application for a change of use from Class C3 dwellinghouse to Class C4 House in Multiple Occupation. Single Storey Rear Extension.

Received
28 October 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Ward
Redlands Ward
  1. Received28 Oct
  2. Validated25 Nov
  3. Consult.31 Dec
  4. Target31 Dec
  5. Decided26 Jan

Decided in 62 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is a full planning application for a single storey rear extension at 63 DONNINGTON ROAD, READING, RG1 5NE. Reading has handled 449 applications of this type. This one was decided in 90 days, 5 weeks longer than Reading's typical decision time. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 80 applications across Redlands Ward. We hold 481 applications in total for the RG1 postcode area.

89% of full applications at Reading Borough 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.See what's approved near your address

Why it was refused

  1. The proposed conversion of this property to a C4 small HMO would have a detrimental effect on the character of the area by exacerbating the number of HMOs, by increasing the percentage of HMOs within a 50m radius to approximately 53%. It would also result in the unneighbourly siting of an HMO with the ‘sandwiching’ of a C3 dwellinghouse at no. 65 Donnington Road directly between two HMOs adjoining party walls, in a terraced row, at the proposed no. 63, and existing 67 Donnington Road. This would further reduce the number of single dwelling houses available for family occupation, thereby, not contributing to achieving an appropriately mixed and sustainable community and would be well in excess of the target threshold of under 25% as defined in Policy H8 of the Adopted Reading Borough Local Plan (2019) and Reading Borough Council’s adopted Residential Conversions Supplementary Planning Document (2023). This is contrary to Policies CC8 and H8 of the Adopted Reading Borough Local Plan 2019, the Residential Conversions SPD 2023 and paragraphs 54, 129 and 135 of the NPPF (December 2024 as amended).
  2. The proposed conversion would specifically result in a detrimental impact to the living conditions of no. 65 Donnington Road, from noise and disturbance, because of the cumulative impact from being ‘sandwiched’ between an HMO on either side. This is contrary to Policies CC8 and H8 of the Adopted Reading Borough Local Plan 2019, the Residential Conversions SPD 2023 and paragraphs 54, 135 and 198 of the NPPF (December 2024 as amended).
  3. The proposed conversion would result in a detrimental impact on the living conditions of future residents of the proposed HMO because of the lack of sufficient daylight, sunlight, ventilation and outlook to the communal living space and kitchen. This is contrary to Policies CC8 and H8 of the Adopted Reading Borough Local Plan 2019, the Residential Conversions SPD 2023 and paragraphs 54, 130, 135 and 198 of the NPPF (December 2024 as amended).

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
RG1 5NE
Application type
Full planning permission
Scale / size
Medium

Planning application dates

Date validated
25 November 2025
Consultation expiry
31 December 2025
Consultation end
31 December 2025
Target decision date
31 December 2025
Application expires
26 January 2026

Planning decision

Statutory period
62 days

Additional information

Planning Portal ID
PP-14443649
Documents
9

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

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

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions. Ask the council if these matter.

Possibly incomplete for this council: tree preservation orders.

Also checked, none recorded (22)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, 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.

Source: Reading

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