- Decision
- dismissed, 26 August 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: A Wright
- Authority
- Brighton and Hove (South East)
- Appeal reference
- 6009586
- Application reference
- BH2026/00119
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Alterations and rear extensions to a 10-person sui generis HMO, garage conversion, manager's studio and a C3 studio (part retrospective)
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- s38(6)
- Development plan policies
- Brighton and Hove City Plan Part Two 2022 DM1, DM7, DM20, DM40
- Main issues
- living conditions of future occupiers; neighbours (noise)
Summary
Reconfiguring a Brighton HMO for ten residents plus a manager was dismissed. Communal space would fall short of the City Plan DM7 standard and be fragmented across three floors, with smaller bedrooms (DL ¶12-15). There was no neighbour harm, given the adjoining lawful large HMO (DL ¶17).
What made the difference
The studio occupiers would still use the communal rooms, so the shortfall could not be discounted (DL ¶11-12).
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 | fail | communal space 30.3 sqm split over three floors against about 36-44 sqm required under DM7 (DL 11-15) | |
| P3 | pass | one extra occupant next to a lawful 11-person HMO causes no unacceptable neighbour disturbance (DL 16-18) |
Key facts
- The new Framework "has introduced significant changes to its structure and presentation", but the policy approach on these issues "has not fundamentally changed"; no comments sought (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.