- Decision
- dismissed, 21 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: A M Nilsson (on recommendation of appeal planning officer T Morris)
- Authority
- Leeds (Yorkshire and the Humber)
- Appeal reference
- 6009737
- Application reference
- 25/05170/FU
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Change of use from 9-bed sui generis HMO to six self-contained flats with rooflights and lightwell
- Homes
- 6
- Site context
- inside settlement, conservation area
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- s38(6), TR6
- Development plan policies
- Leeds Core Strategy 2019 P10, H6, H9, T2, Leeds UDP Review 2006 GP5, Transport SPD 2023
- Main issues
- living conditions; highway safety
Summary
Converting a Hyde Park, Leeds HMO into six flats was dismissed on poor living conditions (attic flat headroom and outlook, stacked living rooms over bedrooms) and on highway safety, given no parking in a saturated street (DL ¶18, ¶28). Housing and HMO-reduction benefits carried limited weight (DL ¶29).
What made the difference
The unproven headroom and sky-only outlook of flat 6, and parking photos that confirmed on-street stress (DL ¶9-12, ¶23).
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 | attic flat 6 unproven against 2.3 m headroom standard (H9), sky-only outlook, living rooms stacked over bedrooms (DL 7-18) | |
| TR6 | fail | no parking in a saturated street; no cycle-store details in a conservation area; Framework refusal on unacceptable highway safety cited (DL 19-28) | |
| HO7 | benefit | limited | replaces an existing housing use; small reduction in HMO concentration (DL 29-30) |
Key facts
- Existing HMO parking demand only 1 space under the SPD ratio, so fallback carries limited weight (DL 26)
- Framework changes "do not affect the substance of the main issues" (DL 4)
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.