- Decision
- dismissed, 7 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: K Reeves
- Authority
- Wandsworth (London)
- Appeal reference
- 6005855
- Application reference
- 2025/2919
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Change of use to an 8-person sui generis HMO (existing lawful 6-person HMO)
- Site context
- inside settlement, near station
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- No Framework version cited
- Determinative policies
- Wandsworth LP29
- Development plan policies
- Wandsworth Local Plan 2023-2038 LP26, LP27, LP29
- Main issues
- public transport accessibility; family housing; living conditions
Summary
Intensifying an existing 6-person HMO to 8 people failed only on Wandsworth's rule that large HMOs need PTAL 4 or higher. The inspector rejected the argument that PTAL 3 next to an Underground station was close enough, giving the policy significant weight (DL 6-8, 18).
What made the difference
A bright-line local accessibility threshold, consistent with national policy on well-connected housing, outweighed the modest benefits of two extra shared rooms.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wandsworth LP29 | fail | significant | PTAL 3 against a PTAL 4 minimum for large HMOs despite Southfields station nearby; objective consistent with the Framework (DL 5-8, 18) |
| Wandsworth LP26 | pass | existing lawful 6-person HMO means no loss of a family dwelling (DL 11-12) | |
| P3 | neutral | technical conflict with LP27 outlook, but the fallback means no worsening (DL 13-16) |
Key facts
- Existing use a 6-person HMO under a lawful development certificate (DL 3)
- The letter cites the Framework only generically (DL 18)
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.