Could new study change rules around ‘sensitive’ HMOs in city?

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Newport City Council has spent £20,800 on a HMO survey as part of a wider review of planning policies.

HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) are typically properties for single, unrelated adults who have their own private bedrooms but share other communal spaces, such as kitchens or bathrooms.

Applications to convert properties into HMOs often attract resistance from neighbours, with concerns ranging from increased parking pressures to fears of crime or antisocial behaviour.

However, planning officers regularly stress that only material planning issues can be considered when deciding to approve or refuse planning permission for HMOs.

Councils, including Newport, often assess how many other HMOs there are in a given area – usually a 50-metre radius – before approving a new application, to prevent overconcentration.

Cllr Saeed Adan, the cabinet member for housing, confirmed the survey the council has been running online is “part of a wider review of current planning policy in respect of HMOs”.

In response to a written question from Conservative councillor David Fouweather, Cllr Adan said: “I am aware of the sensitive nature of such applications, and it is important the views of residents and relevant ward members are considered as part of the review.

“I have been working with the planning team on the brief for this piece of work and confirm the consultancy which has been awarded this commission is RRR Consultancy.

“The cost of the whole commission, of which the survey was only a part, is £20,800.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands the council commissioned the bespoke study because it was felt the housing context in Newport was different from other areas, such as Cardiff, which have been the subject of previous HMO research.

Following the cabinet member’s statement, Cllr Fouweather questioned why a study was needed at all, and claimed residents were frustrated by planning policies which sidelined many concerns about proposed HMOs.

“It doesn’t need a PR company to tell the council what the public and councillors think about HMOs,” he said. “They are unpopular and unwanted, and cause significant disruption in terms of parking and sometimes fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.”

Residents’ parking concerns should not be “ignored” in favour of “sustainable travel and nearby shops as an excuse to grant the application”, he alleged.

“If the council wants to stop HMOs then it needs to put parking needs into the application that would stop the majority of them as that need could not be met. 

“Residents are sick and tired of being ignored.”

Cllr Adan previously told the LDRS the council was seeking a “measurable way of controlling HMOs through the development management process, so it doesn’t impact those areas that are significantly affected”.

“What we don’t want to cause is any inequality,” he said at the time. “We’re hoping that on the back of this new study that we receive, that we change the rules.”