‘Third-world living conditions’: anger at Hilton Lane terrace becoming horrible 10-bed shared house

Plans were submitted to the council to convert the two-storey home at 54-56 Hilton Lane in Little Hulton into a house of multiple occupation [HMO] for 10 people.

Work to the property would include a single-storey extension to the back and putting in a roof dormer to make extra space.

There would be three bedrooms on the first floor with a bathroom and communal kitchen, another four bedrooms and one bathroom on floor two, and a further three bedrooms and one bathroom on the third level.

Hilton Lane is a residential street which is also used by the number 36 bus between Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester and Bolton.

A vote during the meeting was split with four in favour and four against, but the scheme was approved with the casting ballot from the chair of the meeting, coun Philip Cusack.

Coun Bob Clarke criticised the application and voted against it.

“This is yet another horrible thing, how can 10 people live in a building like this, on one floor with four bedrooms and a tiny bathroom,” he said.

“We are subjecting people to third-world living conditions.”

Coun Tony Davies also spoke against the application at the meeting, saying it would be ‘completely inappropriate’ for the area and was ‘cramming people’ into the property.

More than 130 objections were sent to the council about the application.

Andy Smith said he lives next to the house with his family, and claimed the roads are ‘jam packed’ with cars without the potential for more in the area.

“Parking is already a challenge on our road, it’s difficult especially at school pick up times.”

The council’s planning officers said there are no other HMOs within 100m of the property, but councillor Adam Kealey said there are three just outside the area within a six-minute walk.

He added: “I think ten bedrooms for this type of street with limited parking is extremely excessive.”

Mike McCusker, the council’s lead member for planning matters, supported the scheme, saying officers had been through the report ‘with a fine tooth comb’ to make sure it was in line with national and local policies.

He said: “Lots of people use HMOs for different reasons, for work, or because they are moving to establish themselves in an area before moving to a different property, so they do play a key role.

“If we have ten people here, census data is telling us there’s likely to be 4 cars, so we’re looking at a marginal difference.”