Concern over changing face of Chester’s Garden Lane area

Dec 4 2008 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

AN ACTION group concerned about the transformation of Chester’s Garden Lane community is seeking legal action to reverse the trend.

The Garden Quarter Housing Action Group says the character of the neighbourhood is becoming imbalanced due to family homes being turned into shared houses, mainly occupied by students.

It has passed information about more than 100 properties on to Chester City Council’s planning enforcement team which will investigate where there is evidence a house has been converted up to 10 years ago, without change-of-use planning consent.

But landlords have hit back stating that the growth of the university inevitably requires more accommodation for students located nearby.

In a statement, Pete Magee, on behalf of the action group, said: “We used to enjoy living in a mixed community of elderly people, families, young couples and students.

“However, over the last seven years or so, our community has been significantly changed by the family houses being converted into houses in multiple occupation. In our opinion this has been to the detriment of the community and created a significant imbalance.”

For example, he said in summer the area was a ghost town while in term time parking was “almost impossible”, with up to 10 students per house with 10 cars.

“As a pro active group we will be researching all of the unlawful dwelling conversions over the past 10 years. Some of our information being obtained from neighbours, land registry and the electoral register.

“Over the last two weeks we have researched over 110 properties which we suspect have been unlawfully converted and passed our findings on to the planning enforcement team.”

Development control manager Fiona Edwards told The Chronicle the council was “bound to investigate” once allegations were brought to its attention about the unlawful conversion of properties into multiple occupancy.

But she explained that the issue was not straight-forward because change-of-use planning consent was unnecessary if people living in a shared house were cohabiting as though in a single family unit, even if they were unrelated.

“If a group of students get together at the start of term and decide to find a property together, to rent collectively and share meals and household chores, it’s no different to the way a family occupies a property.”

The senior planning officer said the council was working with the university in a bid to “balance all the competing issues”.

Landlord Alan Matthias, who has a property in the area, was sympathetic to concerns but says students at the expanding university need somewhere to live.

He said: “I think it’s inevitable that an area like Garden Lane and around the university is going to be turned into multiple occupancy.”

Mr Matthias said he mainly looked after foreign students who integrated well but he understood some of the British students could get involved high jinx which might conflict with the lifestyles of others.

“I think unfortunately the English have a reputation for drinking to excess,” he said.