Halton HMO Precedent Challenge - Fund Legal Review

Aim

£2,100 needed to fund a barrister’s Letter Before Action challenging a flawed HMO decision before it sets a precedent in Halton.

New funding target: £2,100 (including VAT)
To cover the barrister’s fee to issue a Letter Before Action, the first step in formally challenging the decision.

Halton’s own housing standards say this HMO is too small. It was approved anyway.

Halton’s own policy says the communal living space must be larger than what this house provides. 

Required communal space: 14m²
Actual communal room: 12.2m²

HALTON COUNCIL APPROVED A BELOW-STANDARD HMO

Halton Borough Council has approved a 4-bed HMO inside a former 2-bed terraced house at 31 Balfour Street, Runcorn – despite it failing the council’s own HMO standards.

This decision comes after Halton introduced Article 4 planning controls specifically to stop poor-quality HMO conversions.

Now every landlord across Runcorn and Widnes has a precedent.

The council’s own numbers

Council policy requires 17.5m² communal living space for a 5-bed HMO.

Scaled for four occupants, that equals 14m².

The only communal room in the property is the dining room.

It measures 12.2m².

Already below the council’s own benchmark.

Council policy also states that where the main communal room falls below the required size, the property must provide a second communal room.

Scaled for four occupants, that second communal space must be at least 10.4m².

There is no second communal room.

How the planning application passed

The officer report combined the sizes of two separate rooms:

Kitchen: 8.35m²
Dining room: 12.2m²

Combined total claimed as communal space: 20.55m²

This is how the scheme was judged to comply.

However, the same housing standards require kitchens to meet their own minimum size requirements because they must function as kitchens.

The officer report also confirms

One bedroom measures 7.37m². This is 0.13m² below the Nationally Described Space Standard. (HBC have not implemented national standards, so this was allowed to slide).

Despite the below required room space, the recommendation to councillors was approval.

If this is not challenged now:

• This decision stands
• The interpretation becomes precedent
• The same approach can be used across Halton

What happened at the planning meeting

Councillor Victoria Begg spoke at the planning meeting and raised multiple concerns about the application.

I also spoke and made it clear that the room sizes failed to meet the council’s HMO SPD, alongside concerns about kitchen size, parking pressure, waste and transient occupancy.

The panel acknowledged the space was “on the bar” but stated that the kitchen had been counted as communal space.

Debate during the meeting focused largely on parking and waste management.

The issue of communal room standards set out in the HMO SPD was not debated further.

Councillors were advised that the applicant would likely appeal if planning permission was refused.

Halton Borough Council’s solicitor recommended approval.

Planning permission was granted 6th March 2026.

What the funding will pay for

What your support funds:

• Instructing a barrister
• Legal review of the planning decision
• Preparation and issue of a Letter Before Action to Halton Borough Council

The clock is running

We need to act next week

A Letter Before Action must be issued to Halton Borough Council within days to stay within the legal timetable.

Judicial Review must be filed within six weeks of the decision notice.

Time is limited.

This is not just about my street and my neighbours.

It is the first real test of Halton’s HMO standards since Article 4 was introduced.

If the standards can be disregarded here, they can be disregarded anywhere in the borough.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made