Residents outraged as firm try’s to muscle-in 41 short-term lets amongst mortgaged properties

A hospitality firm has lost an appeal over a controversial bid to turn 41 homes in a Glasgow apartment block into serviced flats.

Residents at Minerva Way, where some homeowners paid around £320,000 for their properties, were outraged when Sonder Hospitality applied for planning permission. Glasgow City Council turned down the application but the firm called on the Scottish Government to overturn the decision. It wanted to offer stays ranging from two nights to around three months.

Sonder argued visitors and permanent residents wouldn’t share access to the block and that tourism has a “vital” role in the city’s economy. However, an independent reporter has now dismissed the appeal as the plan for 3, 5 and 7 Minerva Way comes into “direct conflict” with council policy on short-stay accommodation.

Residents feared a high turnover of guests, particularly on short stays, would increase noise, litter and nuisance and also raised safety fears. Concerns were also raised that the short term lets would turn into “party flats” for tourists. Sonder claimed the flats had been used as serviced apartments since August 2021 and there was “no evidence” of any issues.

The appeal stated: “The reasons for refusal appear to be based on concerns raised by local residents. In absence of evidence of actual problems, those concerns appear to be based on perceptions, which perhaps misunderstand the nature of the use; and assume, incorrectly, that serviced apartments inherently impact on amenity more than residential use.”

But council officials, who recommended councillors refused permission, had reported there would be “clear overlooking and privacy issues” for residents. They also advised council policy “discouraged long-stay and short-stay apartments in the same building”.

They added the firm had been “operating the proposed use without consent” and there was “clear evidence that the proposal will be disruptive to residential amenity”.

Politicians, including Alison Thewliss MP, Patrick Harvie MSP, Kaukab Stewart MSP and local councillors Christy Mearns, Angus Millar and Philip Braat, were among the 100 objectors to the plans. There were 11 letters of support.

The reporter, Keith Bray, said council policy, to protect residential amenity, stated permission will “not be granted for changing use from residential flats to short-stay accommodation within existing blocks of residential flats”.

He said Sonder justified the “proposal on the basis of separate pedestrian accesses into the three cores” but he found it was “within a single building of residential flats”.

“Access to doorway entrances for the cores of flats include a shared means of access across communal spaces within the courtyard area,” he reported. “In addition, the building has a shared means of access for vehicles, pedestrians and cycles.”

However, he did find there was “no evidence” there would be “unacceptable traffic generation” and the level of parking proposed (31 spaces) was acceptable. Mr Bray also said there was “no specific evidence to indicate that noise levels would be unacceptable” but shared bins could “lead to amenity conflicts”.

He suggested some of the issues could be addressed through planning conditions but the “potential for residential amenity impacts on existing residents within the building cannot be fully mitigated”.