Plan to convert a Reading guesthouse into flats rejected due to inadequate room sizes and lack of amenities.
The house is semi-detached and has seven rooms for short visits. They offer different room types online, including large double rooms, standard doubles, and smaller double rooms, with prices starting at £50 nightly.
The owner may want a change and rent it privately to long-term tenants, which would mean it would no longer be a guesthouse. A businessman once wanted to change it into a six-bedroom house, a multiple occupation home, known as an HMO.
Each room would have a double bed, a shower, and a toilet. Tenants could use the shared kitchen, which would have fridges and ovens. The fourth bedroom was planned to become a common room with a sofa and chairs for relaxation.
The council stopped the project, with Reading Borough Council’s planning department refusing it. The rooms were considered too small, the common areas weren’t adequate, and storage for trash and cycle storage were missing. This negatively impacts potential residents and the neighborhood.
You can see the refusal notice by searching the council’s planning website for reference PL/24/1553. The project was rejected on February 14.