MORE student houses have been ordered to close having been converted from family homes without permission.

The owners of two student homes in the Lewes Road area of Brighton were told by a government planning inspector they must no longer be used to home multiple students.

It brings the number of cases won by Brighton and Hove City Council to four in the last two months.

The new ruling follows an initial order by city planning bosses that terraced family homes in Newmarket Road and Ewhurst Road should no longer be used to house six students each.

Under special local powers, planning permission is required in five council wards to change family homes into HMO (homes of multiple occupancy).

The landlords of the properties appealed the decision but Planning Inspector Diane Fleming concluded council policies on HMOs were sound.

The inspector said following a site visit to the streets that the presence of HMOs had caused harm to the area including litter, flytipping and a number of To Let boards and said there was a poor balance of family homes and HMOs.

Under the ruling the property in Ewhurst Road must stop being a HMO by January 1 2017 while the Newmarket Road home must revert back by October 5.

Planning committee chairwoman Cllr Julie Cattell said: “With three such appeals fought and won in as many months it’s clear the council is acting on residents’ concerns and that the government’s Planning Inspectorate will support us.”