Two Solihull houses, on Grange Road in Olton and Woodlands Lane in Shirley, can become children's homes. The council's own care commissioners say need is met.
Two family houses in Solihull can be turned into children’s homes. Solihull Council granted permission for 105 Grange Road in Olton and 27 Woodlands Lane in Shirley, and both decision notices were issued on Tuesday 13 October.
Both went to the Planning Committee on 7 October after residents objected. A third children’s home, in a former day nursery on Ulverley Green Road, Olton, was on the same agenda. The planning register still showed it awaiting a decision on 16 October (committee papers, 7 October 2026).
The papers show something residents may not expect. The council’s own children’s services commissioners say Solihull already has enough permissions for children’s homes to meet local need. Planning officers still recommended all three for approval, and explained why that point carries little weight.
The three homes
| Address | What it becomes | Children | Objections | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 105 Grange Road, Olton | Seven-bedroom house to a children’s home | Up to four, aged 8 to 17 | 34 letters from 32 addresses | Approved, 13 Oct |
| 27 Woodlands Lane, Shirley | Four-bedroom house to a children’s home | Up to two, aged 5 to 17 | 25 objections and a petition from 70 addresses | Approved, 13 Oct |
| 32 Ulverley Green Road, Olton | Day nursery to a children’s home | Up to three, aged 5 to 17 | 10 letters from 9 properties, plus Councillors Johnson and Carthew | Awaiting decision on the register |
Figures are from the officers’ reports to the committee (Grange Road, Woodlands Lane, Ulverley Green Road).
“Need should be satisfied”
All three reports carry the same paragraph from the council’s children’s commissioning team. It says Ofsted’s registration requirements have recently been updated, and local authority need is now a consideration when a home is registered. It then says that “existing planning permissions granted throughout the borough means that, once Ofsted registered, ‘need’ should be satisfied”.
On Grange Road, the report lists the commissioning team as objecting. On the other two it gave what the reports call neutral comments.
Officers gave need “only limited weight”. Their reasoning is that the permissions already granted are not yet open or registered. Ofsted registration, they wrote, “will be the gatekeeper to the number of children’s homes operational within the borough”. The new national planning rules published in August also tell councils to assume that other regulators, such as Ofsted, will do their job.
The police objection in Olton
West Midlands Police objected to the Ulverley Green Road home. The officers’ report summarises its concerns:
- children living there could be vulnerable to “unlawful activities and influences”, a safeguarding concern
- there are several similar care homes nearby, so the force says the proposal does not reflect general need
- a similar home nearby generates many police call-outs
- the home could cause nuisance to neighbours
- security such as CCTV and strengthened windows should be considered
Officers said the concerns rested “largely on assumption” about future residents rather than evidenced planning harm. They gave the objection no weight. The building’s current lawful use is a nursery for up to 36 children, which officers said already brings more coming and going than a home for three.
Why officers kept saying yes
Each report leans on one appeal. In late 2025 a planning inspector allowed a children’s home at 79 Buryfield Road, Solihull, for three children. The inspector found it would not unacceptably harm neighbours through noise and disturbance, or harm the character of the area. Officers told the committee there was no reason the same judgement should not apply again.
The Woodlands Lane application had already been to committee once. On 9 September councillors deferred it over what the report calls “minor inconsistencies” in the number of children, staff and bedrooms. The corrected report came back on 7 October.
The conditions
The decision notices tie each home to the numbers in the application:
- Grange Road: no more than four children at a time, run to the management plan submitted in July, and no staff changeovers between 8am and 9.30am or between 2.45pm and 4pm on school days (decision notice)
- Woodlands Lane: a home for up to two children and for no other use in its class, with the same ban on school-run changeovers. The notice names Woodlands Infant School as the reason (decision notice)
The Grange Road application said staff would change over at 7.45am to 8am and 7.45pm to 8pm, so the condition does not clash with it.
Also decided: eight flats on Danford Lane
The same committee considered 2 Danford Lane, Solihull, where a house would be demolished for a block of eight flats of two and three storeys. It drew 23 objections and was called in by Councillor Mark Parker. The register shows it approved, with the decision issued on Friday 9 October (officers’ report).
What it means for you
- If you live near Grange Road or Woodlands Lane: the permissions are granted. A home still has to register with Ofsted before it can open, and the commissioning team says local need is now part of that decision.
- If a home breaks its conditions, such as taking more children than permitted or changing staff during the school run, report it to the council’s planning enforcement team through solihull.gov.uk.
- If you live near Ulverley Green Road: the register had no decision on 16 October. Check application PL/2026/01479/PPFL on the planning register.
- For anything else going through planning, our Solihull planning news page tracks the big schemes.
The minutes of the 7 October meeting, which will record how councillors voted, had not been published when we checked.
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