Questions and answers

A house in multiple occupation is a home shared by three or more people who are not one household and who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom. Shared houses for up to six people usually need no planning permission. Larger ones, like the nine-person HMO proposed here, are “sui generis” (in a class of their own) and do need it.

Latin for “of its own kind”. It means the use doesn’t fit any standard planning use class, so any change to or from it needs planning permission. That is why this application exists: a six-person HMO would not have needed one.

For most applications the council delegates the decision to a planning officer, who decides alone without a public meeting. This application is marked for a delegated decision. Under the council’s current scheme of delegation it can go to the Planning Committee instead, where it is decided in public, if a ward councillor asks the Development Manager in writing during the consultation period, giving good material planning reasons, and the Chairman of the Planning Committee agrees. No set number of objections is needed. There is a second route within seven days of the council saying it intends to approve, but that only opens once the officer has decided. The consultation on this application is due to end on 14 October 2026. The council votes on 7 October 2026 to end councillor call-in, so the request needs to be made now.

How the council’s vote on changing these rules could affect 1 Ferndale

Yes. Members of the public can submit a written statement or deputation to democraticservices@havant.gov.uk by 5pm one clear working day before the meeting: no more than two sides of A4, as a Word document rather than a PDF. Check the committee page for meeting dates and the current rules.

Yes. Anyone can comment on a planning application. Neighbours' views carry particular weight on noise, privacy and parking, but residents of the wider area are entitled to be heard.

No, and doing so weakens an objection. Planning cannot control who lives in a home, and the type of resident is not a “material planning consideration”. The application gives no indication of anything other than ordinary private renting. Stick to things the officer can weigh: the number of people, parking, noise, the garden, trees, the drawings and the accuracy of the application.

Things like parking and highway safety, noise and disturbance, loss of privacy, design and character, trees and wildlife, flood risk, the loss of homes, local planning policy, and whether the application is accurate. Things that do not count include the effect on property values, who the applicant is, private covenants and boundary disputes, and who the future residents might be.

Less than people think. The council’s scheme of delegation lets a ward councillor ask for a call-in without any set number of objections. One part of the constitution, Part 2 Section E, adds a condition of at least five individual letters from different households, each in the writer’s own words. The file already has far more than that. Beyond the count, the officer weighs the planning arguments, not the headcount. Template letters, letters without reasons and petition signatures carry little or no weight. So write your own letter, in your own words, about how the scheme affects you.

Each application has a formal publicity period of 21 days, which has passed for this one. The council’s guidance does not say late comments are refused, and councils usually consider comments received before a decision is made, but nothing obliges them to wait. The decision is scheduled for 14 October 2026, so send yours as soon as you can.

Wastewater from new homes carries nitrogen and phosphorus into the Solent, which is protected under the Habitats Regulations. Where a development could add more overnight stays, the council must be satisfied, on evidence, that it adds no extra nutrients. This application relies on a one-page statement with no calculation.

Not the planning issues. A mandatory HMO licence for five or more people covers room sizes, fire safety and management. It does not deal with parking, noise in the garden, trees or the character of the area. Those are decided only through planning.

Residents have no right of appeal against a planning approval in England. If you think the council got the process wrong, you can complain to the council and then to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. A legal challenge (judicial review) has to be brought within six weeks and needs legal advice. This is why the time to object is now, and why it matters to ask for conditions limiting numbers if the council is minded to approve.

The applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The council should write to everyone who commented, and you can send your comments to the Inspectorate as well. We will update this site if that happens.