- Decision
- allowed, 25 August 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: Elaine Moulton
- Authority
- Lancaster (North West)
- Appeal reference
- 6006805
- Application reference
- 25/00874/FUL
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Conversion of upper floors from flat to 8-bed HMO over retained commercial ground floor
- Site context
- inside settlement, conservation area
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- N6, P3
- Development plan policies
- Lancaster Local Plan Part Two 2025 DM1, DM13, DM29, DM61, Local Plan Part One 2025 EC5, HMO SPD 2020
- Main issues
- living conditions; housing mix; habitats
Summary
An 8-bed HMO on the Morecambe seafront was allowed. The Council had not quantified HMO concentration within the policy's 100 m radius and had wrongly mapped the site inside a regeneration area. Bedroom sizes were resolved by capping occupancy at eight. A homeowner pack condition dealt with habitats effects and was cited to N6.
What made the difference
The policy test is a local concentration count, and the Council produced no count. Area-wide SHMA figures on self-contained flats did not show HMO over-concentration (DL ¶¶18–19).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| P3 | pass | bedroom 8 fails couple standard in SPD so occupancy capped at 8 by condition; licensing standards material but less weight than SPD (DL 7-12) | |
| N6 | pass | significant | homeowner information pack condition mitigates recreational pressure on Morecambe Bay SAC/SPA/Ramsar (DL 24-26) |
| HO5 | pass | Council did not quantify HMO concentration within 100 m; SHMA wider-area evidence and 2005 masterplan insufficient (DL 13-23) |
Key facts
- Council had wrongly placed the site in the West End Regeneration Priority Area
- Framework changes "not significantly changed" on these issues, parties not consulted (DL 5)
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.