Eastbourne HMO appeal fails after Inspector accepts 23.9% concentration figure

An Eastbourne HMO appeal has been dismissed after two sides produced radically different figures for how many nearby properties were already HMOs.

The council put the concentration within 100 metres of the Elms Avenue guest house at 23.9%. The appellant said it was below 8%. Inspector Lynne Evans preferred the council’s approach and found the proposal would add to an already high concentration.

Five-bedroom HMO proposed in tourist accommodation area

The appeal was determined on the submitted basis of changing a C1 guest house on Elms Avenue to a five-bedroom C4 HMO. The appellant had separately applied for a lawful development certificate claiming existing residential use of the property, but that application had not been determined and was not before the Inspector.

The property lies within Eastbourne’s designated Tourist Accommodation Area, in its Secondary Sector. That made the loss of visitor accommodation one part of the dispute, while the local concentration of HMOs became the other.

Eastbourne’s 2025 HMO SPD treats a proposal as being in an area of high HMO concentration where it would result in more than 10% of residential buildings within a 100-metre radius being HMOs.

The council counted 88 residential properties within the relevant radius, of which 21 were HMOs. That produced the 23.9% figure.

The appellant’s figure was just under 8%.

Eastbourne HMO figure follows the SPD methodology

The appeal decision records that the gap between the two percentages largely resulted from different methodologies. It does not set out the appellant’s counting method in enough detail to reconstruct the sub-8% result.

What mattered to the Inspector was that the council’s calculation followed the methodology in its adopted HMO SPD. On the evidence available, she considered it very probable that the 10% concentration threshold had already been exceeded.

The wider ward evidence pointed in the same direction. The SPD recorded 247 licensed HMOs in Devonshire ward, representing 74% of Eastbourne’s licensed HMOs.

The Inspector found that another HMO would unacceptably increase the existing concentration and cumulatively add to adverse effects on residential amenity.

Guest-house loss created a second obstacle

The HMO figures were not the only problem. Policies protecting Eastbourne’s visitor accommodation required evidence to justify losing the guest house, including viability, marketing and consideration of alternative tourist uses.

Despite a substantial appeal submission, the Inspector found the information did not directly demonstrate whether continued guest-house use was viable in the terms required by the relevant policy and Tourist Accommodation Retention SPD.

The appeal, reference 6010944, was dismissed on 23rd September 2026.

Refuse, recycling and cycle storage were not decisive. The Inspector considered those matters could have been dealt with by condition. She also found no harm to the Town Centre and Seafront Conservation Area that would independently justify refusal.

The result is a useful reminder that HMO concentration figures are only as persuasive as the methodology behind them. Here, the Inspector did not simply choose the larger number: she preferred the figure tied to the council’s published SPD method.

Planning Geek’s Use Class C4 guide covers the planning position for small HMOs. You can also read the locally hosted appeal decision or the Planning Inspectorate appeal record.