Zulfi Khan of Capel Estates has asked Redbridge Council for permission to subdivide 2 Crossway into five separate flats.
But some neighbours claim that the area is already overdeveloped, and that new flats would squeeze limited parking on their streets even further.
Around two dozen neighbours protested against the plans on January 11, with some carrying signs reading – ‘no solution to housing crisis’.
Brendan Company, who has lived in Crossway for the last 20 years, said he was worried the latest development would set an unwelcome “precedent”.
“We just don’t have the capacity for this,” he said.
“You only have to look over the last ten years at the amount of flats that this part of Redbridge has had to take on considering the shortage of family homes in the borough.”
In 2017, the East London Guardian Series reported that Capel Estates had two HMOs and had applied to create a third in St Barnabas Road.
Mr Company said that the same developer had also already converted another home across the road at 1 Ridgeway into five flats despite objections from local people.
Initial planning permission for this development allowed for only four flats to be built.
Redbridge Council subsequently opened an ‘unauthorised works’ case in February 2022, but a year later an application to amend the initial planning approval and add the extra flat was submitted.
The local authority ultimately approved the addition of the new flat despite the planning officer’s report stating that the work was built “unlawfully without planning consent”.
They commented: “Whilst the current work has been built unlawfully without planning consent, it is not illegal.
“The Town and Country Planning Act does not prevent developers to carry out operational development without the benefit of planning consent and then apply for the works retrospectively.”
Work is taking place at 2 Crossway, which Mr Company said raised fears among neighbours that history was repeating itself.
But Mr Khan told this paper that builders at the address are only extending the ground-floor kitchen and carrying out a loft conversion under plans already permitted by the council.
He denied that they were converting the home into flats, and said this would not take place unless the latest planning application submitted to the council is approved.
“I have been and, continue to be, willing to discuss any genuine concerns or issues directly with any of the neighbours,” he added.
A Redbridge Council spokesperson said: “The council’s planning enforcement team have investigated the work currently taking place at this property.
“Planning permission for a six-metre rear extension at this property was granted in April 2022.
“In addition, a loft conversion is being undertaken under permitted development rules, meaning it does not require planning permission.
“The developer has also submitted an application to convert the property into flats. No decision has been made on this application.
“As always, the council will consider residents’ representations as part of the application before making a decision.”
