Landlords have been accused of trying to turn Durham city into a 'student dormitory'.
Despite concerns, planning bosses for the county approved plans to expand an existing 'small' HMO (House in Multiple Occupation), in Whinney Hill, to one with space for up to nine students.
The application prompted renewed debate about the expansion of student accommodation in the city and Durham County Council's attempts to control its growth.
"Our city faces a surge of students seeking accommodation in the private sector and this offers opportunities for private landlords to squeeze in extra bodies and 22,000 students may not be the end of it," said Coun Grenville Holland, of the City of Durham Parish Council.
"Durham City is a market town with limited family housing and it has created an inadequate balance, one of the worst in the UK.
"Our city is ceasing to be a residential area and progressively becoming a student dormitory."
He added: "Allowing landlords to have a free reign to transform the city into a student dormitory shows a disregard for its heritage."
Coun Holland as speaking at yesterday's (Tuesday, December 10) meeting of the county council's planning committee for central and east Durham, which marked the tenth time this year (2019) the panel has considered an application for a HMO in Durham City.
A previous application to extend the property was approved in 2015, when it was also being used as a HMO.
A statement submitted by the applicant, named in paperwork as Gabrielle Moore, claimed the only complaints she has ever received about the property related to overgrown hedges.
She also accused comments about disruption caused by deliveries to the house 'misleading' and added it 'must be the non-student residents who are making a noise or causing disruptions with deliveries and traffic' outside the university terms.
The county council introduced rules to regulate new HMOs in 2016, but Coun Paul Taylor said there was still a 'risk' this could be ignored at appeal by government planning inspectors.
Principal planning officer Alan Dobie said: "To increase the capacity of one HMO is better than approving a new one."
