Planning permission to turn a family home in Stevenage into a six-bedroom house of multiple occupation (HMO) has been refused due to parking issues.

The applicant had wanted to turn a two-storey end-of-terrace house in Valley Way into a six-bedroom HMO.

A Design and Access Statement accompanying the planning application submitted to Stevenage Borough Council says the development would be a "positive contribution towards overall housing supply".

The council has acknowledged that the proposed development would make "significant contribution towards meeting the borough’s housing needs", and that it "would also help to address existing imbalances in the housing stock by providing units that are small in size".

However, planning permission was refused due to parking issues.

The council said: "The proposed development fails to demonstrate that the required parking spaces can be provided at the rear of the property whilst also being able to provide a two-metre high boundary treatment to the rear garden which is at an acceptable distance from the ground floor window of bedroom one, so as to afford the future occupier an acceptable outlook.

"The proposal therefore fails to provide an acceptable living environment for the occupier of bedroom one."