The agent representing the applicant seeking to turn 118 Manor House Road into a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) has revealed to JesmondLocal that the application has been withdrawn.

Suhil Khanna, the current owner of the property in North Jesmond, applied for a six-bed HMO conversion in October 2023. JesmondLocal understands that the application was submitted without the applicant undertaking pre-application discussion with the local planning authority.

The application was met with backlash from residents, who opposed another HMO being added to Manor House Road. Currently, 63 out of 89 properties on the street are HMOs.

Maurice Searle, from Searle Town and Country Planning, told JesmondLocal that two Newcastle City Council planning officers went to look at the property and advised Searle that, in the house’s current state, the HMO application would not be approved.

On November 8th, Searle met with his client, and informed him that the application should be withdrawn.

Searle told JesmondLocal that “at the moment we [have] decided to withdraw the application”. Searle notified Newcastle City Council about the withdrawal on November 9th, which was ratified on November 14th.

The property was previously owned by an elderly lady until she passed away in 2022, with Khanna then purchasing the property in April 2023. Khanna has also applied for planning permission for an elevation of the property at the rear, as well as a proposed bicycle locker. These applications have yet to be approved or denied.

Nils Clemmetsen, the secretary of the Jesmond Residents Association (JRA) told JesmondLocal prior to learning that the application had been withdrawn that the JRA disputed the application, as the increasing number of HMOs in the Jesmond area is “not sustainable for the Jesmond community”.  

Clemmetsen added that any increase in HMOs would have a knock-on effect on the wider Jesmond economy. “Businesses cannot survive when most of the [Jesmond] population are away for a lot of the year,” he said.

In the JRA’s objection to the planning application, under the key points summary is written:

Point 14: “The Agent for the Applicant makes a compelling, if somewhat perverse, case that the area is already so saturated with Student Accommodation that no families would want to live in it and that we should ignore the genuine and continuing impact that this situation delivers because the Anti-Social Behaviour and Noise issues will be policed by Operation Oak.”

Point 16:” Change starts with small steps, and to suggest that one more HMO will not hurt is a flawed argument that denies the community of Jesmond the opportunity to improve.”

The property remains a residential dwelling. However, while the application has been withdrawn, Searle told JesmondLocal that Khanna may review the application in the future and re-submit.