Article 4 - Limiting the number of houses in multiple occupation - Video and audio transcripts

Cllr David Welsh: So, we’re out in Sherbourne Ward today. This is one of the areas that is going to be included in an Article 4 Direction that we’re looking to implement to limit the number of houses in multiple occupation. So, an HMO is where three or more people live together that do not know each other. We have a plan that I’ve been working on called an Article 4 Direction to limit the number of houses of multiple occupation in the city. The proposals cover 11 out of 18 Wards in the city and as I said Sherbourne is one of those areas included in that. So, an Article 4 Direction is a piece of legislation that you can use to restrict rights for people to do things to properties so with HMOs, at the moment, investors can buy a property and they can turn it into an HMO without any planning permission. What this will require is they get planning permission to be able to do that, and that allows us to put a lot more conditions on what people can and can’t do to their properties. It allows us to have HMOs in the city but not in concentrations, not in one area and it allows us to maintain that community feel for an area and areas like this, allows people to continue to enjoy living here.

Cllr Gavin Lloyd: The Article 4 Direction that we’re trying to get through, quite simply, helps us stop sandwiching from HMOs and as soon as we get that, we’d be able to limit how many HMOs come into Sherbourne. So it isn’t just the road behind me, it is the entire area.

Cllr David Welsh: So I’ve been listening to residents for some time. We’ve been working on these proposals for a while. We’re going to be going out to consult on this in September to get those views from people, see what they think about the proposals we’re putting forward.