Salford to tighten grip on HMO delivery
From November it will be harder and more expensive for developers to convert a property into a small shared house across most of the city.
Salford City Council is planning to widen an Article 4 direction already in place across the majority of its 20 wards. The direction removes permitted development rights that allow for the creation of houses in multiple occupation for up to six unrelated residents.
In the future, developers wishing to create small HMOs in all but two Salford wards will have to check whether or not the property falls within an area governed by the Article 4.
If it does, they will have to apply for permission for the change of use through the planning system. The wards of Lower Irlam and Cadishead and Boothstown and Ellenbrook are the only two where the Article 4 does not apply at all.
Salford City Council acknowledges in a report to its cabinet that HMOs make a contribution to the overall provision of lower cost accommodation and states that the removal of PDR is about “the dispersal of HMOs rather than capping the number of them”.
In short, removing PDR will give the authority more control over where HMOs are being created and allow the council to mitigate against the potential negative impacts of this kind of development, including over-saturation.
The Article 4 does not amount to a “blanket ban” on small HMOs, the report states.
“Rather it would allow the city council to take into account issues such as the amenity of existing residents and the well-being of areas by requiring planning applications to be submitted for such changes of use.”
The expansion of the Article 4 is due to be signed off by the city council’s cabinet next week.
Earlier this year, Salford City Council also signed off a supplementary planning document aimed at managing the proportion of HMOs in a given area in a bid to address some of the issues an overconcentration of HMOs can present.
According to a report to Salford City Council’s planning and sustainable development committee, in February these issues include:
- Anti-social behaviour, noise and nuisance
- Imbalanced and unsustainable communities, with higher levels of transience and less sustainable local services
- Pressures upon parking provision
- Increased levels of crime in the local area
- Growth in the private rented sector at the expense of owner-occupation.
The SPD provides a threshold to guide the location of HMOs and states that no more than 10% of the residential properties in any 100-metre radius should be HMOs.
Fantastic news
By Anonymous
Good, HMOs are a plague on the housing market and are often poorly maintained and finished to the lowest possible standard.
By Heritage Action
HMOs will continue to be a necessity so long as the Housing element of Universal Credit for most single people aged under 35 is capped at the rate for a room in a shared house – in Salford this is £94.72 per week, as opposed to the £178.63 someone over 35 might get to pay for a 1-bed flat.
Salford is attempting to sensibly put limits on the concentration of HMOs in particular areas rather than ban them outright – as they can cause issues – but this is not primarily about appeasing nimbys and snobs.
Landlords, particularly when seeking change of use, like to claim they are aiming at professional people, but the reality is that the main market is those who would otherwise be destitute and on the streets. It’s possible an incoming Labour Government could reverse this punitive policy, but there is a cost involved and relatively few votes.
By Rotringer
Excellent move. HMOs are often badly maintained by landlords who simply extract income at the expense of the community. The occupiers generally have no stake in the locality and show no pride in it’s up keep sadly.
By Anonymous
It is about time Salford Council did something about the problem with HMO properties, the argument about having no parking spaces on Fitzwarren Street has become a real problem. It’s ok the City Mayor getting more money for salford council but he doesn’t with amongst them, also it is not fair that they take over family homes and don’t do any maintenance work on them.
By Anonymous
But are all the lower-income people priced out and forced out of the wealthier countryside and sub-urban areas going to live if cheaper inner-city rooms are not being created? There is a reason why inner-cities are poorer. It is where poor people end up, but only if thousands of cheap rooms are available.
By Anonymous
We’ve gone from ‘hard-to-let’ properties and boarded up houses to concerns around the rise in HMO in such a short period. Attempting to manage HMO rather then think of the central issues driving this is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the titanic.
By Anonymous
It’s a good plan, but the focus needs to be on putting a cap on rent at an affordable level much closer to LHA. Universal Credit doesn’t cover much, even less if there are more than one person living there, and disabled people who can’t work full time will soon be out on the streets. Is that what everyone wants?
By Anonymous
What happens when the landlord decides to advertise as an airB&B? There is no regulation and it’s an easy way to get round the rules on HMOs.
By Anonymous
ABOUT TIME BUT 5 YEARS TOO LATE
By Anonymous
There is more HMO properties mow in the Langworthy are as I live next one and facing another ,this is an absolute nightmare as we bought our home in 1991 and was forced to move when the council decided to compulsory purchase our home and was also lied to yet again from the council as they stated there would be no private renting not only have we got private rented houses these are two up two down terraced houses for a couple and a child not six adults it doesn’t matter how many bedrooms you shove in there it is still a two bedroom terrace it’s not turned into a mansion
These landlords have no alley gate keys so the tenants do not put bins out which uis piled in the alley so us that do have a key and take pride in our home cannot get our bins out the tenants are even throwing rubbish bags out of one of the now 4 bedroom windows absolute disgrace and I for one cannot wait for this voting day
By Anonymous