A Grade II-listed hotel in west Reading could become a huge 14-bed shared house after previous plans for an even bigger HMO were refused last year.
The owner of Belle Vue House, which is at 2 Tilehurst Road near the town centre, has applied to change the use of the 18-bed three-star hotel into a house in multiple occupation (HMO) for 14 people.
Previously, Sucha Singh had wanted to turn the hotel into an 18-bed HMO but the plans, which were described as “lazy, cheap and nasty” by Reading Civic Society, were refused by Reading Borough Council (RBC) in August 2020.
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This plan included no garden and just one shared living room and kitchen, with the new plan now tripling the number of shared spaces and adding a garden.
Belle Vue was built in 1839 as a private villa and is part of the Russell Street and Castle Hill Conservation Area.
The property has been used as a hotel since 1993, but an increase in hotels in Reading has led to a “considerable decline” in customers and made it “commercially un-viable”, according to the owner.
Why the 18-bed plan was refused
The 18-bed HMO plan was rejected because it failed to provide suitable kitchen, living room, and garden space.
Mr Singh wanted to provide just one living room and kitchen for the 18 residents, while there were no plans for a garden.
Reading Civic Society said of the plan: “It is totally ridiculous and should be roundly rejected.
“Miniscule kitchen for 18 people and ditto the lounge. Even before Covid-19 it was bonkers.
“No proposal to provide a suitable outside leisure space – all around the property front to back is gravel.
“Totally inappropriate.”
Evelyn Williams, from the Reading Conversation Area Advisory Committee, said a smaller HMO could work but the building could “comfortably accommodate no more than 10 households” and a garden is needed.
READ MORE: Huge 18-bed shared house refused
The new 14-bed plan
In the latest proposal, which seeks to address the concerns raised, all 14 rooms have en-suite bathrooms and there are three shared lounges and kitchens.
This is how the setup would be:
Lower ground floor: Four bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms, plus a shared lounge and kitchen
Ground floor: Three bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms, plus a shared lounge, kitchen and toilet
First floor: Five bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms, plus a shared lounge and kitchen
Second floor: Two bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms
The land at the back of the property is now earmarked as a garden for the shared house, with landscaped areas, seating areas and tree planting and hard surfacing no longer planned.
The new plans offer “more opportunity to provide comfortable and uncramped spaces”, according to the applicant’s planning consultant.
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