The proposal to convert the house, on Hall Lane, Farnworth, was put before Bolton Council more than a month ago.
But council officials have judged that because the plan will only include five bedrooms it is therefore judged to be “permitted development” and allowed to proceed.
A report said: “The application property subject of this application is located on Hall Lane and is a mid-terraced dwelling.”
It added: “The applicant/agent has submitted proposed plans showing that the proposed dwellinghouse would be converted into a five bedroom, five person house of multiple occupation.”
Houses of Multiple Occupation tend to be lived in by several different people who don’t know each other and in effect live as separate households.
The Hall Lane plan has been allowed because under current rules, developers only need to apply for planning permission from Bolton Council if they intend to convert a normal house into an HMO with more than six bedrooms.
This means that when plans for five bedrooms or fewer, like this one, can be considered “permitted development.”
But similar proposals have proven to be controversial elsewhere in Bolton over recent months and years.
Elsewhere in Farnworth, Bolton Council rejected a proposal for a different HMO on Lower Rawson Street amid concerns raised by residents and their representatives about “noise” and “waste.”
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But other similar applications elsewhere around the town have been allowed to go-ahead.
Supporters of HMO developments have argued that they help the borough to meet its housing commitments while opponents have repeatedly raised concerns about overcrowding, pressure on services and the lack of more conventional style family homes.
In recent months, Bolton Council has debated proposals to restrict the growth of HMOs across the borough, which have been particularly common in areas that are already densely populated.
Other councils, such as Manchester and Salford, already have policies in place meaning that all applications for HMO conversations between three and six bedrooms must apply through the planning process rather than simply for an HMO licence.