Plans have been submitted to turn a house in Gordon Avenue, Stanmore, into a specialist children’s home for up to two young people.
The application, submitted to Harrow Council, seeks a Certificate of Lawful Development for the proposed use of the property as a small residential care home for children aged between 11 and 17.
Supporting documents say the home would provide care for young people with learning disabilities, autism spectrum conditions, ADHD, communication difficulties, sensory processing needs and other complex needs.
How the home would work
The home would be for up to two children, who would live at the property as their main home.
Care staff would be there around the clock, working in shifts. During the day there would usually be one or two carers on site, with one waking member of staff there overnight.
Visitors would need to be arranged in advance and would be supervised while at the property.
No changes are planned to the outside of the house, and the applicant says it would continue to look and feel like a normal family home.
Why the applicant says full planning permission is not needed
The applicant is not asking for a standard change of use planning permission. Instead, they are asking Harrow Council to confirm that the children’s home can legally operate from the property without needing full planning permission.
Their argument is that, because only two children would live there and the house would still be used in a similar way to a normal home, the change would not be significant enough to count as a major change of use.
Quiet hours proposed
The management plan says quiet hours would be in place between 9pm and 7am, with garden use and other outdoor activity kept to a minimum during those times.
Immediate neighbours would also be given contact details for the home’s manager. Any complaints would be acknowledged within 24 hours, with a fuller response normally provided within seven working days.
The applicant says most vehicle movements would come from staff changing shifts and visits from professionals, and that the overall level of activity should be similar to a large family home.
Harrow Council will now decide whether the proposed use can go ahead without full planning permission.
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