A tenant broke down in tears as he pleaded with Liverpool Council to turn down plans for another house of multiple occupancy (HMO) in Kensington.
James Jones gave an emotional testimony of life living around Molyneux Road as plans were debated for a seven-bedroom HMO above a former hairdresser’s salon. Proposals submitted by INM Properties Ltd hoped to install seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, two shared kitchens and a communal living room across the three floors.
Mr Jones, who lives in the upper flat above the proposed HMO, became emotional when addressing councillors about his experiences and said he would have to find somewhere else to live if the plans went ahead. He said he had already had to “put up with a hell of a lot of nighttime drinking” and parking around the site was a “disaster.”
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A tearful Mr Jones added: “I just want to live in peace.” The objection was supported by ward councillor Liam Robinson, who described the application as “quite frankly completely unacceptable” and was motivated by “greed.”
Cllr Robinson, alongside ward colleagues Cllr Wendy Simon and Cllr Sue Walker, had written to the local authority outlining their objections to the proposed scheme. They cited “a large number of HMO properties in the area and in the street and that another such development would undermine the sustainability of the community due to the large number of transient residents with challenging support needs that often live in these properties. Issues have included, noise, anti-social behaviour, crime including sex working, street drinking and drug dealing and prostitution.”
Opposition was also offered by Kirkdale councillor Joe Hanson, who added: “Everyone knows the issues Kensingston has got with anti-social behaviour and sex workers.” Despite members and Mr Jones making their feelings known about their misgivings, the project was deemed to be acceptable by Liverpool Council planning officers.
A report to members said: “The personal circumstances of the tenant cannot be taken into consideration in the assessment of the application and only the merits of the scheme can be considered. Nevertheless, the loss of housing is a material consideration however the above report addresses the proposal in detail, and it is considered the change of use is acceptable.”
As a result, it had been recommended for approval by committee chair Cllr Tony Concepcion. This was defeated by a verbal vote of members by six to one and as a result, it will return for assessment by the committee at a later date.
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