Fourth Scarborough guest house on same seafront street granted flats conversion

North Yorkshire Council has approved the conversion of a guest house on 39 North Marine Road into a 10-bed house of multiple occupancy (HMO).

A retrospective application was submitted by Debbie Pitcher for the site which previously operated as an 11-room guest house and now operates as an HMO.

The Grade-II listed four-storey terraced dwelling is located within an established residential area of Scarborough and consists of nine one-bedroom rooms for residential use as well as a further one-bedroom room for the occupancy of a warden.

A previous application sought permission for the change of the property’s use to a 14-room HMO but according to a report by North Yorkshire Council, it “did not meet the minimum room size criteria”, as required by the authority’s environmental health department.

The report states that “amended plans reducing the scheme from 14 rooms to 10 rooms were not forthcoming following an agreement between the relevant parties on-site, and therefore the scheme was refused on this basis”.

However, the scheme in its present form “satisfactorily addresses the issues which resulted in the determination for refusal and can therefore be considered acceptable”.

No public comments were received during the consultation period and no objections were submitted by the Highway Authority or other consultees.

The loss of tourist accommodation was an issue of concern for the authority which refused the “unacceptable” conversion of a guest house into residential accommodation in Filey in February.

However, in January, the council approved the conversion of a bed and breakfast on 79-81 North Marine Road into residential apartments as the owners said it was no longer financially viable.

The council report states that it received no information to demonstrate that the property on 39 North Marine Road “was no longer considered financially viable”, but the authority acknowledged that tourism trends have “altered in recent years, heightened by the pandemic”.

The local planning authority also said that it was not aware of “any shortfall in serviced bedroom accommodation at present” which meant the proposal would not result in a reduction of the overall visitor accommodation provided in Scarborough.

The plan was approved subject to condition on Wednesday, April 26.