Council approves 'retrospective' application for Brimsdown HMO already being lived in

Two previous applications to convert the former Station Tavern pub were rejected over flooding concerns, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

A previously unauthorised house in multiple occupation (HMO) that had been under investigation by Enfield Council has now been given planning approval for the first time.

An application to convert the former Station Tavern pub building next to Brimsdown Station was granted “part retrospective” approval by the council to operate as a HMO – after two previous applications failed.

The first application to convert the former pub into a HMO was refused in May last year. Then, last July, the council refused a second.

Despite this, when the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the site in March this year there were multiple signs of people living there without permission, including a mailbox next to the property with a sign which said: “Letters here for HMO rooms.”

This came more than five months after the council said it was investigating the premises for unapproved works to convert the Green Street property into a HMO.

Speaking at the time to explain the apparent lack of action, a spokesperson for the local authority said: “Planning enforcement cases can take time to progress, and this site is subject to many investigations […] The council must ensure any investigation is thorough and robust, and all evidence is fully considered.”

The third – and now approved – application was submitted to the council in April with supporting documents for a “part-retrospective” change-of-use to a six-bedroom HMO.

A council report published a day after its decision notice on Wednesday, 24th June confirmed that the “HMO has been fully constructed and occupied”, adding: “It has however been indicated that the bin storage, cycle storage, and landscaping works have not yet been implemented.”

It also acknowledged the fact the property is located within an area where there is a high surface water flood risk. The site is very close to Brimsdown Ditch, a watercourse which flows alongside the railway line.

When the council refused the second planning application last year it argued that “the applicant failed to address flood risk requirements”.

The retrospective planning application was granted on behalf of senior officer Karen Page, the council’s head of planning and building control, and comes with extensive planning conditions.

Among the conditions is a stipulation that a verification report proving that approved drainage and flood risk mitigation measures have been fully implemented on the site by Thursday, 23rd July.

If this report is not submitted and confirmed in writing by the deadline then the applicant’s permission to use the property as an HMO “shall cease until such time as the verification report is approved”.

The applicant for the HMO is named only as ‘Mr Tepe’, the same surname as the applicant behind a previously proposed tower block, dubbed ‘Tepe Tower’, on the site of the pub.

This scheme was refused by councillors at the fourth time of asking in November 2024 after planning officers described it as “unsafe” and spent over two years repeatedly urging the planning committee to reject it.

The HMO application can be viewed on the council’s planning portal using reference 26/01472/FUL.

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