The five-bed HMO property in Babington Road had previously been rejected as potentially “harmful” but has now won planning approval, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

A house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Hendon has been formally approved after previously being rejected for being potentially “harmful” to the local area.

The decision, reached at a Barnet Council planning committee meeting on Wednesday (11th), will officially permit a former family home on Babington Road to be used as a five-bed HMO.

Speaking ahead of the decision, Joe Henry, the agent working on behalf of the application, said the property is already being used as a HMO anyway. He argued that the fact the house is being used this way “in itself demonstrates demand need for HMO accommodation”.

Henry said the property has been licensed by the council as a HMO since March 2021 and argued that the owner would now be immune from enforcement action, citing a four-year immunity rule.

A similar application for the property at 48 Babington Road was rejected in May last year. Explaining the decision at the time, council officers said it would mean a loss of an in-need family house and would contribute to “a harmful concentration of houses in multiple occupation in an area of poor public transport accessibility”.

The house, described as a two-storey “mid-terraced” property, has extensions at its rear and on the roof. These additions were originally rejected by the local authority in 2019.

The approved application is retrospective. It follows the completion of a parking survey that found there are enough spaces nearby already and no more would be needed as a result of the HMO.

In addition, Transport for London (TfL) has since changed its description of the location, giving it a better public transport rating. The property is just under half-a-kilometre from Hendon Central Station.

Planning officers now argue there is a valid “need” for the HMO, with Middlesex University less than 200m from the property. As a result, they said the application has “overcome” previous reasons for refusal.

Hendon ward councillor Alex Prager requested that the application be discussed by the planning committee. In a statement read out at the meeting, the Conservative member raised concerns about the loss of a single-family home, saying it was contrary to the council’s local plan.

Speaking ahead of the decision, the planning agent voiced disagreement, saying those policies were part of an old local plan and no longer valid.

“It is not clear why the councillor is objecting to the HMO considering the current HMO accommodation is home for five persons – and has been for many years,” Henry argued.

The agent also said there had been no objections from any neighbours and that there is a “high-demand for HMOs in the area”, in particular due to having good public transport links and being close to Middlesex University.

He also noted that nearby 24 Babington Road was granted planning permission for a HMO on appeal in October 2024.

The application is listed on the council’s planning portal with reference 25/4814/RCU.

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