Landlord refused permission to add extra bedroom at 141 Elm Grove

Mishbec Ltd already has planning permission to turn a four-storey family home into a shared house at 141 Elm Grove, Brighton, and to extend it to provide more living space.

But when Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning committee met on Wednesday, members refused to allow an extra bedroom by six votes to two.

Mishbec, owned by Patrick Eraut, 53, previously secured permission to create a five-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) on the casting vote of Green councillor Leo Littman, who chairs the planning committee.

When permission was granted, in December, Mr Eraut said that the shared property would provide “vital housing for people on low incomes”.

Councillor Littman said today that he considered abstaining before voting to refuse the application after hearing the committee’s views.

He said: “We’ve got three storeys of bedrooms and the idea that we have a storey of living space for those people … I think that’s reasonable.

“The fact is, the way the previous application was laid out (was that) there were two separate living spaces, so people didn’t have to be in each other’s faces all the time. You could split into groups.”

Cllr Littman voted to refuse the application

Conservative councillor Carol Theobald said: “It’s a shame to lose that living room. It’s just a greedy developer doing that. Two toilets don’t seem enough for three floors. I’m not happy with it.”

Green councillor Sue Shanks said that the developer should accept the conditions that were agreed when the committee approved Mishbec’s plans for a five-bedroom shared house just four months ago.

She said: “It seems like it’s come back again for us to change what we’ve already decided. When you’ve got five adults in one house, that’s quite a small area where you’ve got to cook, eat and sit.”

Independent councillor Tony Janio said: “After all the years I’ve lived on this planet, I’m astounded that anybody would want to live in a place like this.

“But the Tory within me says it’s a commercial decision … and people will live there so I’ll be supporting it.”

Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh proposed rejecting the planning application, seconded by Cllr Shanks.

The reason was, they said, “the introduction of a further resident and the resultant loss of shared living space would be unacceptably detrimental to the quality of life for future residents.”