The Con Dem government is apparently taking another retrograde step. Landlords will now be able to create houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) for up to six people without planning permission.
This is likely to create much lower living standards for the tenants. Just before the election, the Planning Committee considered a case in Dennis Avenue in Tokyngton where the landlord wanted to convert to a HMO. The application was refused because he wanted to give some of his tenants as little as half the space normally allotted to people living in flats.
My colleague Cllr Lesley Jones has long been fighting HMOs in Willesden. She is particularly interested in how they change the character of an area, leading to fewer residents with a long term stake.
1 comment:
Hmm, this post is a bit naughty... it's a half truth and a bit of mis-direction... The truth about the old HMO legislation is that ALL councils were impacted by the HMO rules, even if they did not have a HMO problem. Also, most people I talked to were unaware of the changes at all! - but were then angry when they discovered that it impacted their ability to take in lodgers as they may need to apply for planning permission in some cases! No, the new changes are helpful - if the council has a problem with too many HMOs, then they can do something about it - otherwise it has no impact. That almost sounds sensible...
If there is a safety concern re HMOs, change the licensing conditions such that all small scale HMOs need a license and then enforce on room sizes/conditions - This has nothing to do with planning and is available NOW to councils (it just costs money).
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