A planning application to increase the size of a house in multiple occupation (HMO) in East Sheen has been denied.

Donald Shearer Chartered Architects submitted proposals to extend an existing four bedroom property on Sheen Lane which Richmond Council refused on 11 March 2026.

The application sought to "improve the existing accommodation provision on a site that has a very large private amenity garden space".

However, Head of Development Management at Richmond Council, Robert Angus, said the plans failed to show how nearby trees would be protected and that designs were "overly dominant".

"The proposed two-storey extension to the Coach House, by reason of siting, scale, and mass, and the front bay, by reason of the fenestration design, would represent an overly dominant and incongruous form of development, which will negatively impact the character of the Coach House itself and cause harm to the significance and character of the Building of Townscape Merit," said Angus in his decision notice.

The planning officer added: "The development, by reason of the absence of an Arboricultural Impact Assessment, Tree Protection Plan (TPP) and Arboricultural Method Statement has failed to demonstrate that the proposal would not detrimentally impact on the health and longevity of nearby trees to the detriment of the visual amenity of the locality and the character and appearance of the area."

Extension plans would have seen the four bedrooms in the coach house to have their own dedicated en suites rather than them all sharing a single communal bathroom.

Proposals also included keeping all the original primary roof forms unaltered to "ensure consistent views from all aspects within both the public and private domain".

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The applicants said: "In terms of use this proposal will have positive benefits by adding an additional privacy and dignity to the occupants of the four rooms being enhanced in this pre existing HMO accommodation that is located close to wider local amenities that will thus reduce congestion in a sustainable envelope that will ultimately reduce carbon emissions, responding positively to the climate emergency that the Council has vigorously highlighted."

As it stands the property is a four level building with a basement and a two level annex, identified as a separate coach house (the subject of the refused application) which is connected to the four storey main building with a single storey flat roofed link. 

To read the full application click here.