Crackdown on house conversions into bedsits
Landlords will have to apply for permission under new rule
BIRMINGHAM is to crack down on unchecked conversions of homes into houses in multiple occupation (HMO) from next summer after complaints from hundreds of residents.
Developers looking to turn a property into bedsits for up to six people will have to apply to Birmingham City Council for planning permission under the new ‘Article 4 Direction’, agreed this week.
Currently they only have to do that for conversions of seven-bed properties or more.
A council report earlier this year stated there were at least 6,000 HMOs across the city.
Neighbours say they result in piles of rubbish, a rise in crime and antisocial behaviour, parking problems and a lack of community cohesion due to short-term occupants.
An Article 4 direction has already been in place in Selly Oak, Harborne and Edgbaston since November 2014.
This week the Labour-administration’s cabinet approved a city-wide order to replace it – although the Conservative opposition also claimed it as a victory having campaigned for the move for a number of years.
Cllr Rob Alden, leader of the Tory group, also pointed out that residents in his Erdington ward had generated a 452-name petition in support. He welcomed the decision but warned it was not a ‘silver bullet’ and stressed that the council must enforce it properly and not let developers merely bypass the requirement.
Cllr Alden said: “This is something we have been calling for for years so I am absolutely delighted that the council has dropped its resistance to our proposals and accepted our arguments about the damage the
This is about... protecting the character of Birmingham’s mature suburbs
Cllr Rob Alden, right
proliferation of HMOs doing to our suburbs.
“It is also important to remember many of the HMOs created currently have rooms which are far below minimum standards and would never meet approval if they had to go through the planning process.
“This is about ensuring people have decent standard accommodation to live in as well as protecting the character of Birmingham’s mature suburbs.”
The council would look
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reject applications which would result in HMOs accounting for ten per cent of homes in a 100metre radius, result in a family home ‘sandwiched’ between two HMOs or where it would cause three or more continuous frontages of non-family homes.
A six-week public consultation resulted in 251 official comments submitted, out of which 151 (60 per cent) were in support of the citywide Article 4 Direction, 89 (36 per cent) were against and 10 (four per cent) expressed no view.
Those against the move argued it could limit the availability of housing, cause rent costs to increase and discriminate against young people.
But council officers dismissed the concerns and stated it would ‘avoid excessive concentrations’ of HMOs.
Cllr Sharon Thompson (Lab, North Edgbaston) homes and neighbourhoods chief, said: “This is a huge move for Birmingham. This administration is doing a lot of focused work on the private rented sector at the moment because we know the adverse effects that it is having on people in every-day communities, particularly where there is a high concentration of HMOs.
“We can’t do anything about the historical concentrations but this will help moving forward.”
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