Objection to turning Regency era houses into bedsits on Hull's Beverley Road

Numbers 53 and 55, Beverley Road, date from the 1820s Regency era; number 53 is still used as offices but its neighbour is empty.

SPI Holdings Ltd wants to turn them into two houses in multiple occupation (HMO) with 19 beds, a move recommended for approval by planners.

But Hull Civic Society says that runs contrary to work being done to regenerate the area.

The buildings are in a conservation area - which is currently on the national “At Risk” register - and the Beverley Road Townscape Heritage Scheme area.

Some £2.7 million - including £1.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund - has gone into the five-year scheme delivered by Hull Council to help property owners make repairs.

The civic society says because an HMO tends to be a temporary home, residents have no stake in keeping rear gardens or yards tidy “which often results in serious degeneration of the local environment”.

They state: “Although a very good candidate for residential use, conversion into a 20-bed HMO would be harmful both to the historic features of the building and to the overall regeneration of the Beverley Road conservation area as a desirable residential district.”

But planners say their location on a busy arterial route makes them unlikely to be converted back into single homes.

Turning them into an HMO would keep them in active use and would not “adversely affect local amenity and the character of the area”, they add in a report.

Councillors are due to discuss the application on September 9.