Issue - meetings

Committee is asked to note the following:

1.    The contents of this report; and

2.    That Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) will be continued to be monitored by the Planning Enforcement and Environmental Health Teams

Committee is asked to agree the following:

That if the position changes and the number of complaints relating to HMOs which are permitted development and which are causing negative impacts on neighbours increases significantly, a further report will be brought to the Corporate Policy & Resources Committee by 01 May 2025.

Committee resolved that:

1.    The Council introduces an Article 4 Direction across the wards of Ashford North & Stanwell South, Staines and Stanwell North (the wards with the highest number of complaints and applications) withdrawing the permitted development right to convert a dwelling house (C3) to a House in Multiple Occupation (C4) coming into effect after 1 year of its introduction; and

2.    This decision will be reviewed at this committee within a year to consider any further evidence to extend the Article 4 Direction to other additional wards.

Committee considered a report on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) within the Borough that sought agreement as to whether an Article 4 Direction should be served on HMOs which are permitted development throughout the Borough, part of the Borough or leave it to a future review.

This matter had been discussed in 2018 and 2020 and on both occasions it was agreed that further evidence would be needed before a decision could be made as to whether HMOs having a causing a negative impact within the Borough. 

The Committee felt that the Officers’ recommendation to continue to monitor the situation for another year was based on the figures within the report but members felt that they were not a true reflection of the number of issues surrounding HMOs. Some members had been contacted by residents who were not willing to put in an official complaint for fear of retaliation and those cases were not included within the report statistics. The Chair put forward that the Committee should agree to Option 3 within the report and this was approved by the Committee. An additional recommendation was approved that would mean a report would be brought back to this Committee within a year to review any additional evidence.

Committee resolved that:

1.    The Council introduces an Article 4 Direction across the wards of Ashford North & Stanwell South, Staines and Stanwell North (the wards with the highest number of complaints and applications) withdrawing the permitted development right to convert a dwelling house (C3) to a House in Multiple Occupation (C4) coming into effect after 1 year of its introduction; and

2.    This decision would be reviewed at this committee within a year to consider any further evidence and to decide whether to extend the Article 4 Direction to other  wards.