Green light for B&B hotel in Chesterfield town centre to be converted into House in Multiple Occupation

An agent acting for Paul Singh of Sycamore Estates set out the proposal for the second floor of 11 Stephenson’s Place in an application to Chesterfield Borough Council.

Permission was previously granted to use the accommodation as bed and breakfast bedrooms. An officer’s report to the council said: “It is unclear if the rooms have ever been used as bed and breakfast rooms, but they were part of a previous larger application for works to the building including converting the rooms into flats; this commenced on site.

"The proposed use would include en-suite bathrooms in each room and the existing office/wc/storage space being re-configured into a kitchen, living room, store and laundry room; this would include the removal of several internal walls to provide daylight and outlook into the kitchen/living room space. It is also proposed to construct an internal wall to separate the HMO unit from the stairs.”

The officer’s report stated that the three-person HMO would be well served by a range of facilities and services given their proximity to town centre transport links and the high concentration of facilities within the town centre itself.

There would be a background level of noise and disturbance from bars and restaurants linked to the nighttime economy. However, the report stated that there have been several permissions for flats within the wider building of 9-21 Stephenson Place and this proposal was considered to be no different to those. “The change of the bed and breakfast rooms/bedsit flats into HMO rooms is not considered to be a significant change,” wrote the officer, who recommended that the application be granted.