Plans for ‘uncomfortably cramped’ flats for homeless people have been voted through despite concerns it signalled a return to tenement housing with ‘hardly room to swing a cat’.
A divided Tameside planning committee has narrowly approved proposals to convert Enville House in Ashton-under-Lyne from ten bedsits into 12 one-bedroom studio flats.
The Victorian building will be used for social housing for people registered homeless or rough sleepers, which would be run by Ashton Pioneer Homes with the support of Stepping Stones Projects.
Council officers had said the plans should be rejected as the size of the flats falls below minimum space standards by a ‘significant amount’ and there would ‘little-to-no space’ for ‘normal’ activities.
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