A QUIET residential street in Yeovil could soon receive better protection from more intensive forms of housing.

College Green lies off Goldcroft in the north of the town centre, a short distance from both Yeovil College and Yeovil Hospital.

The street has recently become host to a house of multiple occupancy (HMO), where multiple people live under the same roof with separate bedrooms but shared communal facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.

South Somerset District Council has now agreed that any further HMOs in College Green will need planning permission before any existing properties can be converted for this purpose.

Concerned residents put their views across at a virtual meeting of the council’s area south on Wednesday afternoon (May 6).

Michael Beales said: “The law regarding permitted development rights is riddled with problems.

“There’s a lot of buildings around that are ripe for conversion. If you don’t do anything about it, this issue will come back and bite you in the foot.”

Catherine Wilson said single-occupancy housing should form a greater share of new developments, such as the recently-approved plans for 800 new homes on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail pub.

She said: “Both numbers 27 and 31, the unfortunate neighbours of this HMO, are having a terrible time. The people at number 27 are thinking of selling.

“It’s really important that we get Article 4 in place in College Green – it’s not built for this. Don’t start breaking up estates that aren’t designed for it.”

Under planning legislation, HMOs can be created from existing housing stock under “permitted development” – meaning that planning permission is not required (though HMOs of certain sizes still require a licence to operate).

Councils can, however, impose an Article 4 direction on a given area – meaning that any proposals for an HMO in that area will require planning permission (and therefore public consultation) to proceed.

Back in 2016, the council imposed such a direction following a public consultation, identifying five zones which would be protected in this fashion.

One zone, Zone 2, was subsequently extended in 2018 to include Mitchelmore Road and Roping Road.

Since the measures were put in place, 11 HMOs have been approved across the five zones.

Linda Hayden, the council’s specialist in development management, said the Article 4 direction was designed to ensure HMOs were spread evenly throughout the town to meet local demand.

She said: “We want to encourage HMOs wherever in the town they would be appropriate.”

Councillor Andy Kendall – whose Yeovil College ward includes College Green – said decisions about HMOs often underestimated the demand for car parking.

He said: “I’m sure you’ll tell me people will walk to their work or have bikes – but everyone will have cars.

“It’s going to be chaotic around there. And putting double yellow lines down isn’t fair on the people who live there.”

Councillor Peter Gubbins – who represents the same ward – said it was “common sense” to extend the Article 4 provision to College Green.

He said: “It will help private landlords as they will be aware of any HMO area before applying for permission.

“It doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be any more HMOs – it means we would control where they were built.”

Councillor Andy Soughton added: “I think it is right and proper that this kind of accommodation is available, and there is a great need for it. But it has to go through the planning process because you have to take account of residents’ views.”

The committee voted unanimously to approve a new “Zone 6” to cover College Green. This will now be subject to a formal consultation later in the year.