ABC Planning officers have taken on board councillors’ concerns over plans to convert a family dwelling into a house in multiple occupancy in Portadown.

In a Decision Notice issued on July 30, 2026, they justified their refusal recommendation for the property at 25 Tandragee Road as follows: “The proposed development would, if permitted, cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance by way of an overconcentration of high-density living that would have an adverse impact on the character of this section of Tandragee Road.”

The planning application was originally listed for determination at the June 3 Planning & Regulatory Services meeting of Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council, and at the time the Planning officers’ recommendation was to approve it.

Despite that initial recommendation, the plans generated a long debate at the meeting, as there were growing concerns over the number of HMOs in Portadown.

A planning application to turn this gable house at 6 Goban Street, Portadown, into a five-bedroom HMO has been refused. Credit: Google

placeholder image — A planning application to turn this gable house at 6 Goban Street, Portadown, into a five-bedroom HMO has been refused. Credit: Google

The proposed HMO at 25 Tandragee Road was directly adjacent to two existing HMOs, at No 23 and No 27, and Planning committee members deemed this to be unacceptable in what is a settled residential area with family homes.

Among the many letters of objection received, one resident, who is living next to the existing HMO at No 27 Tandragee Road and who was facing the prospect of seeing No 25 Tandragee Road also becoming an HMO, wrote in August 2025.

The resident said: “These developers are not only slowly but surely destroying these buildings which are synonymous with the Annagh area, which has sadly become a run-down area in recent years, but the entire fabric of the Annagh area as a whole.

“I also fear for my own property, in which I have lived since 1972, as the house will become devalued due to these developments.”

The objector’s concerns were relayed just days later by Upper Bann MP, Carla Lockhart, in correspondence to the ABC Planning Service.

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Likewise, a planning application for an HMO at 6 Goban Street, Portadown, has now been issued with a recommendation for refusal by Planning officers.

The Decision Notice, issued on July 22, 2026, uses an identical form of words to recommend refusal, stating: “The proposed development would, if permitted, cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance by way of an overconcentration of high-density living that would have an adverse impact on the character of this section of Goban Street.”

That planning application had also been debated at the June 3 Planning & Regulatory Services committee meeting, with councillors clearly unhappy with the Planning officers’ initial recommendation to approve it.

There are already 38 HMOs in Portadown – by far the highest concentration of HMOs in the ABC Borough – including one for up to 10 tenants just across the street from the one that was being proposed at 6 Goban Street, a street which has only nine properties.

In citing “demonstrable harm” as grounds for refusal, Planning officers are obviously of the view that this constitutes a valid consideration – one that holds legal weight when reviewing planning applications for HMOs.