Plans to turn a student accommodation block in Leeds into a hostel for asylum seekers have been rejected by the local council, in a decision that leaves the Home Office with the option of submitting a full planning application.
The Home Office applied last August for a Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development for Mary Morris House on Shire Oak Road in Headingley, a building currently occupied by students. The certificate route would have allowed a change of use to proceed without a full planning application, but Leeds City Council determined that the proposal represented a material change of use and therefore required complete planning permission. The application was refused on that basis.
Labour ward councillors Jonathan Pryor and Abdul Hannan confirmed the decision in a statement to residents, saying planning law and factual evidence had been used to reach the conclusion. They wrote to residents in the immediate area directly, saying they felt it right that people learn of the outcome from them rather than through social media.
The councillors confirmed that students remain in residence at Mary Morris and that nothing on site has changed. They also set out what could happen next. “The Home Office could now submit a full planning application, which would be subject to a full public consultation, where residents would be able to submit comments in support, opposition or neutral,” they said, adding that any further developments would be communicated to the community as they emerge.
Mary Morris House was originally built in the 1970s as University of Leeds halls of residence. The building has since been refurbished and is now owned and managed privately.
The council confirmed the Home Office retains the right to appeal the decision, meaning the matter may not be fully resolved. Whether the Home Office pursues an appeal or opts to submit a fresh full planning application — which would trigger a formal public consultation process — is understood to be entirely at its discretion at this stage.
