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Bassetlaw District Council backs call to ‘tighten’ HMO policy

Bassetlaw District Council's Queen's Buildings

By Lauren Monaghan, Local Democracy Reporter

Bassetlaw District Council have backed a call to ‘tighten’ planning rules for smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) amid concerns more are appearing within the district.

The district council met yesterday (Thursday, July 31) in an extraordinary council meeting after a cross-party call to debate a motion seeking to change the planning and licensing process for HMOs at the council.

Councillor Fraser McFarland, the Reform UK group leader at the authority, proposed the motion, which specifically called for the introduction of an Article 4 Direction that would restrict permitted development rights at the council.

The motion also asked for a three-month deadline for council officers to report back to the cabinet and full council with detailed recommendations and a draft Article 4 Direction for formal consideration and adoption.

Data the council holds suggests there are 169 HMOs of all sizes in the district, meaning they make up less than 0.3 per cent of homes in Bassetlaw.

Under the current planning framework, changing a home to a small HMO is classed as ‘permitted development’, meaning planning permission from a council is not needed.

Cllr McFarland told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), ahead of the meeting, “It would give full public consultation and control back to local people where HMOs are located, the amount in an area and more of a say in the future.

The Labour group at the council proposed an amendment to the motion, which essentially concluded the same request to introduce an Article 4 Direction, but its motion read: “It has not been appropriate to delay the work that is already ongoing to manage the development of HMOs for an extraordinary council to be convened.”

The amendment also removed the three-month deadline in the original motion and stated the council had already been working on managing new HMO development, with it reading: “The use of planning powers, including an Article 4 Directive are already on the Forward Plan and Article 4s have been to pre-scrutiny.”

The amended motion was passed by the council, beginning the process of an Article 4 Direction being introduced to remove ‘permitted development’ rights for people wishing to make small HMOs “in areas of Bassetlaw where evidence shows significant growth or concentration of HMOs”.

This means that before a HMO is made, where an Article 4 Direction is in place, a planning application will need to be submitted to the council for a decision to be made.

The passed motion will also see the mapping out of current HMOs and assessing their local impact.

Jo White, Bassetlaw’s Labour MP, said in a statement to the LDRS yesterday: “I am very concerned about the growth of HMOs in Bassetlaw. I launched my campaign for greater local control of HMOs almost six weeks ago, and I have been working closely with the leader of Bassetlaw District Council, Councillor Julie Leigh, to ensure the council uses the powers at its disposal to control the growth of HMOs within the district.