Concern is growing among Ladywell residents that developers who are keen on turning a good profit by converting family homes into HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) are targeting the area.
Residents say they are being inundated with leaflets from estate agents saying they have several buyers willing to pay at least £850K for houses with three or more bedrooms.
A recent KFH leaflet describes buyers as keen to buy off market, with budgets of up to £1.3m, and willing to take on property in poorer conditions.
Residents suspect speculative developers are offering well above market rates for the 1930s three bed family homes in the area because they ae still able to gain planning approval for converting the family homes into profitable HMOs despite Lewisham insisting family homes are a top priority.
“We get letters and leaflets offering to buy our homes on the spot on nearly a weekly basis,” said one resident.
“Lewisham Council is not making it at all clear that they are following through on their own statements that family homes are a number one priority. That’s why all this speculative activity is happening.”
More than 20 local residents joined a Zoom meeting recently to discuss a proposed HMO development at 52 Embleton Road. The proposed development will go to a planning meeting on July 15. There have been 32 objections and 52 local residents have igned a petition against the development.
At the meeting residents were told by planners that “if the application meets their criteria, they may be obliged to allow it, although opinions and input from local residents are heard and considered.”
Residents said thety were disappointed that article 4 directions which allow a local authority to restrict permitted developments by requiring them to seek planning approval were not being given much weight in this case.
Such directives can be used by a council to protect the character of an area and have been used in Bellingham and parts of catford to prevent the conversion of family homes.
In an earlier report by planners on 52 Embleton Rd they acknowledged there was already an oversupply of HMOs in Ladywell.
Wait for family size social homes now more than 50 years in parts of London, says housing body, as developers step up efforts to convert homes into HMOs
The National Housing Federation (NHF), Crisis and Shelter have found that the wait for a family sizd social home in parts of England has risen to more than 18 years.
According to a report in the Guardian, some of the worst local authority areas are in London where three councils have waiting lists of more than 100 years for a home with three bedrooms and nine have waiting lists of more than 50 years.
More than 1.3 million families are on waiting lists for social homes in England, an increase of 37% since 2015, and a record 164,040 children are homeless and stuck in temporary accommodation, double the number in 2012.
Figures compiled by the NHF and based on waiting list clearing data (2021-24), show the wait in Lewisham is 29.8 years., with neighbouring Southwark on 12 and Greenwich on 67 years.
The report comes as Ladywell experiences a sudden surge in the number of terraced family houses being converted into HMOs (houses in multiple occupation ), alarming many residents.
The owner of a family home in Ladywell is trying for the second time convert the house into a six bedroom HMO.
Council planners refused an earlier planning application to convert No 52 Embleton Rd after a determined campaign by local residents .
They claimed the conversion would add to noise levels, was poorly designed, would add to parking pressures and would start to change the settled character of the neighbourhood.
Lewisham has a significant shortage of family homes, leading to overcrowding and displacement. The borough’s housing register has over 9,800 households waiting for permanent homes, and a large number of families are living in unsuitable, overcrowded temporary accommodation.
Lewisham council has sought to clamp down on HMO conversions and requires planning permission for all conversions of single family homes into HMOs.
The new planning application (DC/25/139339) has angered neighbours to the property. They are concerned about a proposed rear extension blocking out their light and the council’s failure to send around any formal letters about the application.
Rosie Hattersley, one of the neighbours, says the council is not giving local residents enough time to comment on the proposals.
“To make matters worse the owner had three builders at the property recently but they wouldn’t say what work they were about to start,” she added.
“Local residents are focusing on preventing the owner rfom starting work without a list of what he intends to do under so-called permitted development.
He seems to think he can do everything up to and including the loft conversion and knocking through walls to get a digger in to knock down the conservatory.
Residents say his proposals would involve building over a manhole sewer cover so “he would need a surveyor and Thames Water to give consent.” He has also not made any move to secure a party wall agreement.
Ladywell residents object to growing number of family homes being converted into HMOs
A sudden surge in the number of terraced houses being converted into HMOs (houses in multiple occupation ) is alarming Ladywell residents.
Several single family homes have already been converted into “unsuitable” HMOs as landlords cash in on rising London rents.
Ladywell residents are concerned that a proposed six-bedroom HMO conversion in Embleton Road will lead to a change in the character of the neighbourhood.
There are already 16 HMOs nearby, according to a Lewisham council register, despite the council’s renewed efforts to license and restrict them.
Local campaigners say an oversupply of HMO conversions in the southern part of the borough forced Lewisham to clamp down on them.
It introduced regulations in January 2024 which require planning permission for all conversions of single family homes into HMOs.
Lewisham suffers from a shortage of family homes which was exacerbated by the spate of HMO conversions.
Residents can object to HMO developments on several grounds. These include:
- Noise
- Parking
- Loss of Light
- Increased pressure on amenities (water, electricity, rubbish disposal)
- Poor design and building materials
Residents object to Embleton Road proposal
Ladywell residents have organised a letter objecting to the development at 52 Embleton Road on several grounds.
Rosie Hattersley, a neighbour of the property, says the HMO is likely to increase noise levels with a much larger number of people in a cramped space. Rosie works from home. She says HMOs and AirBnBs are often cited as a noise nuisance.
She says the development will also block a significant amount of light from properties next door because of a proposed four metre rear extension.
With at least six tenants it is also likely to add parking pressures in a CPZ designed to reduce private car use.
Residents who have seen a small plan of the proposed conversion say the overall design is poorly thought through with minimum space requirements, a miniscule shared kitchen, and little social space.
- UPDATE: The planning application on NO 52 Embleton Road was refused
But many are concerned the HMO will start to change the settled character of the neighbourhood. Lewisham insists successful planning applications for HMOs have to show there is a specific need in the area; and that the conversion will not ‘harm’ the character of the area.
Neighbours only discovered works were being planned at No 52 Embleton Road when a Party Structure Notice was delivered. The planning application is not yet “live” on the council’s planning portal.
The party wall notice lists proposed work as “loft conversion, removal of chimney breast and rear extension”. There is no mention of the planned conversion of the house to an HMO.
To make matters worse, the notice was given to immediate neighbours an hour after the departure of the tenants who had been in the house for 14 years.