Residents welcome talks on new HMO restrictions

People living near homes converted into flats have said they are worried about their growing number as the council considers restrictions.

Gedling Borough Council will later discuss plans to make planning permission compulsory in several streets for anyone planning to convert a house into one where multiple strangers live.

The spread of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the borough has been raised in Parliament by the local MP.

Residents told the BBC they were worried about parking and the loss of family homes, but one person living in a HMO said they needed somewhere to live too, and it was a cheaper and more convenient option.

Sally Castle has lived on her residential street for 18 years, during which time she has seen more and more of her neighbours' houses converted into HMOs.

According to the council, the street now has seven - the highest number in the borough's most impacted area.

They are mostly concentrated around where the 50-year-old lives.

"How many more are they going to bring in? It couldn't get worse in this small part of Chandos Street," she said.

"I welcome the restrictions because they're a pain, they're just an absolute pain and they're taking away family homes."

Emma Shepherd, 39, lives across the street, and said: "Parking has been a nightmare.

"There's a school down the road and people are going to be parking dangerously eventually.

"I'm worried there's going to be loads of HMOs and from what I know of them it can cause different kinds of behaviours that we won't want round here."

Further down the road, 40-year-old Mark Thorpe, said he had been aware of months of anti-social behaviour from a nearby HMO, including fights, drug use and fireworks being set off.

He welcomed tighter controls by the council.

"At the minute they can put them wherever they like and if you live next door, tough," he said. "People need a place to live, they all just seem to be dotted in this one area."

On average HMOs make up 0.2% the borough's housing, but on Chandos Street it is 4.49%.

A report prepared for the council said there was no evidence the HMOs were increasing anti-social behaviour but they are growing in number and impacting parking.

It recommended bringing in the restrictions on three streets "to protect local amenity or the well-being of Chandos Street, Ashwell Street and Beech Avenue".

One man, who lived in one of the HMOs and wished to remain anonymous, said he agreed there should be more control but that HMOs "solve a problem".

"People need somewhere cheaper and with less stress [compared to running a whole house]," he said.

"If we have a housing problem, and someone is solving it, is making it cheaper, that's the main thing."

Council permission is currently needed to convert houses to make homes for 7 or more unconnected people but not on HMOs smaller than this.

The report recommends bringing in an Article 4 direction, which would mean you would need planning permission to convert a home into a HMO for three or more people, but to delay it being implemented for a year to give notice.

Mike Adams, a Conservative county councillor for the area, said he wanted those powers brought in immediately.

"People currently have absolutely no control and no ability to say anything or raise concerns," he said.

"We've got to prepare for the future and not keep walking into it blindly.

"The numbers aren't huge at the moment, but the residents are already feeling those negative effects."

A spokesperson for the National Residential Landlords Association said it was "crucial" local authorities do what they can to help landlords put properties onto the private rental market.

"This means more needs to be done to increase the supply of housing of all tenures," they added.

"Whatever steps councils take to help landlords stay in the market, they must do their utmost to provide a fair deal for both renters and landlords."

The proposals will now be considered by the council's cabinet.

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