Planners give go-ahead for conversion of Portadown terraced property into house in multiple occupation
Planning approval has been granted for the conversion of a terraced residential property at 7 Ormonde Street, Portadown, into a five-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO).
The planning application was lodged by JWM Planning Ltd, Ballymena, on behalf of Red Residential Ltd, Newry Road, Banbridge.
There are currently four bedrooms in the property, two on the first floor and two on the second floor.
The number of bedrooms will be increased to five, as the living room will be reduced to half its current size on the ground floor to make room for an additional bedroom.
In addition to the existing bathroom on the first floor, a significant portion of the backyard will be taken over to provide a rear extension. It will accommodate an additional bathroom and a utility room.
New dormer windows at the rear and front will also be installed.
A parking survey was conducted on August 20, 2024, and August 21, 2024, after 7pm, and it was found on these occasions that there was ample on-street capacity to accommodate additional vehicles.
The report states: “Initially, all available parking within 200m of the site was to be surveyed, this includes Ormonde Street, Church Street, Cecil Street, Coronation Street and Queen Street.
“However, on both evenings it was found that sufficient parking was available on Ormonde Street alone, therefore the remaining streets within the 200m catchment area were not surveyed.”
As space is very limited outside the property to accommodate wheelie bins, householders living in the shared property will be limited to three larger, 360-litre bins – as opposed to the standard 240-litre bins – for collective waste disposal.
A service management plan, drafted by the agent, states: “An area for these bins is within the bin store accessed off the rear yard of the proposal, with access to the existing alleyway located to the rear, to ensure that the bins are not accumulating on the street.
“On collection days, it will be a requirement for the tenants to place the correct bin on the street for collection, and once emptied returned to the dedicated area in the rear yard.
“General cleanliness will be expected of all tenants, to ensure that vermin are not attracted to the property, and this will be inspected by the property owner on a regular basis.”