A family will be allowed to extend their new home in Ascot despite neighbours’ worries that it could be used as a holiday letting or shared rental house.

Artur Kushnir wants to convert his house on Darwall Drive into a four-bed property for his family to live in. He says he wants to move to the area so his son can be closer to the school he soon hopes to attend.

But neighbours have said the extension would overlook and overshadow nearby houses. And some worry that the owners aim to use the house as a “house of multiple occupation” (HMO) – where rooms are let to several tenants – or as a holiday letting.

Mr Kushnir and his neighbours took their cases to Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee on Thursday, November 9.

READ MORE: Fears Ascot home will become Airbnb-style holiday letting

He told the meeting: “The property initially has been purchased as a family home for me, my wife and two of my children, with the purpose of having my son being close to Lambrook School, which we hope he will attend from February next year.”

Mr Kushnir said his plans had been met with “fierce resistance” from neighbours. But he said done all he needed to do to meet the council’s standards – and insisted he had no plans to use the house as anything other than a family home.

He said: “I would like to address the rumours of the HMO, being completely untruthful and based on a certain bias which is beyond my comprehension and understanding.

“I truly believe that we’ve achieved what we have to do in terms of our compliance. At this stage I’ve got nothing else to add.”

But Andrew Laszkiewicz said he objected to the plans “on behalf of all residents from Darwall Drive and multiple residents from Saddlers Mews, Manfield Place and Manfield Close.”

He said the design of the house looked as if it could become an HMO. And he warned its scale would overshadow nearby houses, while parking plans could lead to more parking on the road.

Mr Laszkiewicz said: “The large amount of internal space generated by the design – what appears to be for instance a 25-foot long kitchen-snug single space, conversion of the loft pace etc – would seem to accommodate conversion to a house of multiple occupancy or suchlike.

“The proposed development is considered by the residents of the area to be oppressive, overbearing and will result in a loss of privacy for a number of houses.”

Council planning officers said all parts of the proposals met council rules. And they added some parts of it – such as the two-storey extension to the main building – would be allowed without needing planning permission anyway.

Councillors on the planning committee voted to approve the proposals, with three abstaining.