HMO above Coventry pub 'did not have correct planning permission'

Parts of the upper floors of the Gosford Arms were changed into a HMO



An ongoing planning application for an extension has seen upper sections of a historic Coventry pub transformed into residential spaces without the correct permissions.

Plans for a two storey rear extension and change of upper floors to residential use at the locally listed Gosford Arms, Far Gosford Street, was granted with conditions back in 2015.

While the extension element never materialised, according to planning officers the upper floors were changed into a HMO - despite one condition relating to noise not being discharged.

An updated application asking for this specific condition to be changed was submitted earlier this year. But planning officers have recommended this request be refused by the council.

The application, submitted for the locally listed pub within the Far Gosford Street Conservation Area, sought to amend a noise-related condition attached to the earlier planning permission granted in 2015. That permission allowed a two-storey rear extension and the conversion of the upper floors into residential units.

Condition 8 of the original approval required the building to be fully sound-insulated before anyone moved in. However, the flats have been occupied for several years without the condition being discharged.

The applicant put forward a new noise assessment in an effort to resolve the situation, but council officers said the report did not provide enough information. Environmental Protection officers raised concerns that it failed to assess noise travelling between the pub and the flats above, including peak noise from music or equipment.

Planning officers concluded that without this information the scheme does not show that residents would have suitable protection from noise, falling short of the standards set out in the Coventry Local Plan. The application was therefore refused.

This latest application can be read in full on the city council's planning portal using reference PL/2025/0001522/RVC.

The Gosford Arms has been a part of Coventry's pub scene for over 200 years. Historically it was known as Pitt's Head, named for Prime Minister William Pitt. It become the Gosford Arms in the early 1990s.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/hmo-above-coventry-pub-did-32900990

Just one of hundreds if not thousands of illegal conversions all over the city!