Two HMOs on one street in the Cathays area of Cardiff have been given retrospective planning permission, with residents and councillors voicing their objection. Two applications proposing HMOs were submitted to Cardiff Council for two properties on Merthyr Street in Cathays, an area known for its student population.
The applications, submitted by the same applicant, had applied to the council for a Lawful Development Certificate for the properties, with the council granting retrospective planning permission for both. The applications were for 19 Merthyr Street as an eight-bedroom suis generis HMO and 69 Merthyr Street as a seven-bedroom suis generis HMO.
But residents and councillors in the area have voiced their objections to the applications. On the application for 19 Merthyr Street, the applicant had stated that the property had been existed as a suis generis house for over 10 years. One objection comment that was left on the application noted that the applicant had also applied for a retrospective licence for another HMO on the same street.
