Abbey Wood Elizabeth Line station causing concerns over nearby HMOs

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to turn a home into an House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) have been approved by a local council, despite concerns from a councillor over their increase in number and the amount of rubbish they produce.

Greenwich council has approved plans to convert a house in Abbey Wood into an HMO for six people, despite a neighbour saying the area is already so bad it has been “blacklisted by taxi companies”.

Council documents showed a neighbour of the house has criticised the plans, saying the HMO will have a negative impact on children.

The resident said there was already an issue with HMOs in the area which included “smoking and drug use” in back gardens.

They said: “The area has issues with illegal HMOs which cause noise and antisocial behaviour, which has resulted in the street being ‘blacklisted’ by taxi companies.”

Council officers said in their report that how tenants use their back gardens was not a consideration for applications. They also said they felt the new HMO would not have an impact on antisocial behaviour or noise in the area.

The topic was discussed at a planning meeting for Greenwich council on Tuesday.

Labour councillor Denise Hyland, representing the Abbey Wood ward, said at the meeting that there has been an increased number of HMOs in the area since the opening of the Elizabeth line last year.

The councillor also said she was concerned about the amount of rubbish coming from HMOs.

She said: “We do have cases of people dumping sacks of rubbish on the floor that is then pulled to bits by foxes and other wildlife… We have flytipping issues of mattresses being tipped out and left often on street corners away slightly from the property itself.”

Mantas Gedgaudas, who owns the house in Abbey Wood, said at the meeting that he intended on hosting young professionals in the property who will clean up after themselves and are easy to manage.

He said: “We’re just trying to upgrade the area, and we’re thinking of having no more than five people in the house, the size of an average family. Just to provide good accommodation for people who want to have nice living, but they cannot afford bigger properties.”

At the meeting, the planning committee agreed to approve the plans for the HMO in Abbey Wood.

Pictured top: The house on Woodhurst Road in Abbey Wood that is planned to be converted to a shared house (Picture: Google Earth)