Plans for a six-bed HMO conversion are rejected

Plans for a new six-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) in a South Shields neighbourhood have been rejected by councillors.

- by Chris Binding

General view of Belle Vue Crescent, South Shields.

South Tyneside Council's Planning Committee, at a meeting this week, refused an application for 3-4 Belle Vue Crescent in the town's Biddick and All Saints ward.

Plans from Thandi Nicholls Ltd, submitted last year (2025), were seeking permission to convert the site from a “residential dwelling” planning class to a “six-bed, six-person HMO”.

Proposed floor plans showed six bedrooms across three levels, each with an en-suite bathroom and “kitchenette”, as well as a communal kitchen area serving the wider HMO.

A design, access and planning statement submitted with the HMO application noted that works “already commenced” on site in early-October, 2025, under “permitted development rights” that were in place, meaning the six-bed HMO did not need planning permission at that time.