Battle lines have been drawn after campaigners accused developers of trying to turn a historic street into “another HMO alley”. Frustrated residents took aim at HLPhomes’ plans to revamp an old lawyers’ building in a 19th-century Dover road into a multiple-occupation home. Practically unheard of until recently, the housing option’s popularity has soared in Kent and beyond in recent years, as many feeling the pinch have turned to more affordable accommodation. HLPhomes argues in official planning papers converting the former solicitors’ office into a nine-bedroom house will breathe life back in…