BARROW’S ‘NO’ TO HUGE HMO

CRUMBRIA: 17.09.2025

A 27-bed HMO planned for Barrow Island has been sunk after a petition signed by nearly 200 residents.

Back in May, plans were lodged to turn the former three-storey Royal Hotel on Anchor Road into an HMO.

(Twas once a good, salt of the earth Victorian boozer).

But it was last used as an industrial-scale farm for, er, ‘continental’ cigarillos)

Baz I residents – sick to the back teeth of the unchecked growth of HMO’s – signed a big petition against the HMO conversion.

Complaint numero one was streets being used as all-day parking for the shipyard, and the Council rarely doling out tickets.

The HMO plan has now been “withdrawn” after more than 50 peeps fired off letters to Wokemoreland & Farcical Council.

Some of the uprising could probably have been swerved had the London planning agent set out in their nine-page report who the intended tenants were!

The comments from residents reflect life on the island.

“There are already too many HMOs in the area. The influx of persons unknown is a great concern for other parents and me in the area.”

“Our island is being overrun with parking for HMO.”

“The application fails to state who will be residing in the property.”

“No more HMOs. They have enough empty flats and hotels in Barrow to keep BAE workers in accommodation.”

“We do not need another HMO. Three HMOs within 100 yards of the Royal Hotel are advertising rooms for rent.

“We are totally against the planning for the Royal Hotel to be turned into an HMO. God only knows who would end up staying in it.”

“It’s about time the council and our councillor got out and listened to the residents of Barrow Island before it is taken over by HMOs.”

“Anytime a reasonably priced house comes on the market, it’s snapped up by greedy business people to make a fast buck out of making them into digs.”

“There have been way too many HMOs granted in Barrow.”

“Without knowing the specific demographics or intentions of the occupants, it’s difficult to assess the potential impact fully. The uncertainty itself is a cause for concern.”

The Barrow and Furness branch of Reform UK reckons there are now as many as 230 HMO’s/Aparthotels in the area.

Dying if not dead, local rag, the Evening Snail, possibly relying on figures from Barrow Labour, says there’s only 80.

It is to be trusted only with a 10-foot barge pole.

There have been calls recently by Labour figures on the Council and the MP for ‘concrete’ action to address the proliferation of HMO’s.