Harrow Council has become the latest in the city to try to crack down on small HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupation) as it puts forward plans that will require them to get planning permission.
Thew council has said the move is like “using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut” but believes it’s the right thing to do. The local authority is looking to bring forward immediate measures that will make it harder for landlords and developers to convert family homes into HMOs borough-wide by introducing an Article 4 directive – which reverses existing rules that allow small-scale changes without planning permission.
The Article 4 directive will only apply to small HMOs, so other minor planning changes can still be made under permitted development rights.
The local authority has said it currently has “no control” over HMO conversions in the borough and claims many residents have “had enough” of them. The council is concerned about the number of shared houses rented out by room in certain areas, which it says leads to reduced numbers of family sized homes, increased antisocial behaviour, and imbalanced communities.
A plan in principle was presented at a recent meeting of Harrow’s Planning Committee (January 21), with a more detailed proposal expected to come over the coming months. Currently, landlords only have to seek planning permission if they want to convert a home into a large HMO for more than six people. However, the new rules would mean they will have to seek permission regardless of size.
Committee Chair and Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Marilyn Ashton, said: “We’ve come to the conclusion that we have such a lot of pressure and difficulties with some of the smaller HMOs not requiring a change of use […] that we’ve decided that we will do an immediate Article 4.
“A lot of people will say it’s going to be six people and then we get a complaint and [find] it’s actually 12 people living there.[…] There are quite a lot of people out there who’ve had enough of that and this will stop it.”
Harrow Council wants the changes to come in with immediate effect once the detailed proposal has been signed off.
Cllr Ashton said: “If we do non-immediate it will take a whole year longer to get it done. Personally, I just don’t think we can stand this much more.[…] “If you give it a year’s grace it gives people a chance [to get a certificate of lawfulness] and you end up with a whole load of people getting HMOs that wouldn’t have done. You end up in a worse pickle than ever, which is why I want to do immediate.
“It doesn’t mean that none of them will ever get planning permission at all, some will of course. […] But at least it gives the planning authority a chance of determining these and we can do something about it.”
Before they could be implemented, the plans would first need to be signed off by the relevant Secretary of State. There is also a risk that, by opting for the immediate route, the move could be challenged by landlords or developers but the council believes it is “a risk worth taking”.
The council will explore the risks, which would then need to be signed off by the finance department before a decision on the policy can be made. Cllr Ashton added: “This is a very ‘using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut’ thing to do and it would be so much easier if we didn’t have to.”
But, she added: “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
