Residents say they have been filled with “dread” after a student block was granted permission to be converted into a 63-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO).
JG Student Lets was given the green light to repurpose the property on Jeffery Street, Gillingham, by Medway Council on April 27.
This prompted Gillingham and Rainham MP Naushabah Khan (Lab) to write to chief planning officer Dave Harris saying the application should have been considered by councillors.
Residents in Jeffery Street say they’re worried how the permission will affect their community, with particular concerns over anti-social behaviour and overcrowding.
Andrew Lynch, who has lived in the street directly across from the newly-approved HMO for more than 40 years, says he expects existing problems to worsen.
He said: “It’s going to do nothing to enhance the area whatsoever, quite the opposite – it does concern me, very much so.
“Vetting procedures would probably be non-existent, if at all. It’d just be, can you pay the rent?
“And parking is already a huge, huge problem now. You buy a car permit, but that doesn’t guarantee you somewhere to park.
“There’s going to be more cars. They’re going to want to park them.”
And while he appreciated that “people need to live somewhere”, he hopes the area doesn’t “become a dumping ground for South London”, which he claims has been “going on for some time”.
“I dread to think who’s going to end up in these HMOs,” he added. “I suspect it will lead to even more problems.”
Richard Hunt, 77, says lots of locals don’t feel like they’ve been properly consulted over the changes.
He said: “It seems to be happening everywhere and people who live in these areas aren’t being asked what they think.
“I think it’s totally wrong. The council’s made this decision without consulting – who did they consult?
“[Did] they hold a meeting, a local meeting for the residents, and asked their opinions?
“They’re the ones who elect these councillors after all, they could have had more of a say in it. But it just doesn’t seem to happen, unfortunately.”
Ms Khan, who was the area’s councillor for nearly a decade until her election to Westminster two years ago, wrote to Mr Harris saying the approval by officers was inconsistent with efforts to regenerate Gillingham.
Speaking to KentOnline, she said: “The approval of a 63-bed HMO without referral to Medway’s Planning Committee raises serious concerns.
“Given the ongoing debate around the volume of HMOs in the area, and the active campaign for Article 4 Direction, it is difficult to understand why planning officers did not feel scrutiny was warranted.
“This decision also appears to contradict the wider vision for Gillingham’s regeneration.
“With significant work underway through the Gillingham Task Force, planning decisions in the town centre must reflect the challenges residents face, including deprivation, housing pressures, and the potential for vulnerable occupants to be placed in such accommodation.”
In her letter, Ms Khan took issue with the fact the decision was made by planning officers and asked why the application had “bypassed” a committee and was not voted on by councillors.
And she did not agree with the assessment that there would be little difference for the local area if the building served as student accommodation or as an HMO.
She added: “It is difficult to understand how the assertion was made that this would not have an impact on the wider area.
“Student letting, which largely works on a term-time basis, is not the same as a more general HMO letting approach.
“This does not fit in with our wider vision for how we regenerate Gillingham, and it is disappointing that vision is not being considered or recognised when planning applications for the town centre are being presented to Medway Council.”
She asked Mr Harris what discussions were had with JG Student Lets, the firm behind the scheme, about their plans for who the rooms would be let to in future.
She did raise the concern that the building could be used in future by other authorities, such as London boroughs, to house people, or to house vulnerable persons from the asylum or probation system.
Ms Khan has previously raised concerns around the number of HMOs cropping up in the Medway Towns, and successfully lobbied the authority to introduce an article four direction in the areas with the highest concentration.
This was introduced in January and means homes converting into HMOs for fewer than six people must also apply for planning permission – something not previously required.
However, a recent public consultation on a crackdown on HMOs garnered just four responses – and two of them opposed a restriction.
At the meeting where this was discussed on May 5, the authority’s cabinet pushed ahead with the Article 4 direction and said it would keep track of the impact and could consider expanding the measure beyond the initial seven wards.
JG Student Lets successfully argued that the fall in the number of university students living in private accommodation meant the building needed to be repurposed.
It made the application in March and was approved April 27.
