Ealing (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ealing Council has introduced tougher planning controls, tightening rules on landlords seeking to convert family homes into rented rooms amid housing and safety concerns.
In order to better control the quantity and quality of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), the council has taken action.
If a landlord wants to turn a house into a large HMO that can accommodate more than six people, they already need to ask the authorities for planning permission.
All new HMOs, regardless of size, will now need to apply for planning permission as a result of the council’s amendments.
The council will be able to evaluate the new regulations’ acceptability, including how they would affect neighborhoods.
Landlords are subject to legally binding guidelines about how they manage their properties and interact with tenants as all HMOs must hold a license.
Although there are an estimated 5,550 HMOs in the municipality, only about 4,000 of them have licenses.
Unmanaged HMOs can result in problems like noise, waste, overcrowding, and antisocial behavior, even while many provide necessary, affordable accommodation, frequently for single persons like students and young professionals.
In September 2024, Ealing tested the new planning approval procedure at Perivale after locals voiced concerns about the area’s growing number of HMOs and the inadequate management of some of them.
Since then, the council has rejected or the landlord has withdrawn more than 25% of HMO applications.
Additionally, the council has assigned specialized enforcement officers to concentrate on waste-related problems associated with rented residences and HMOs.
So far, the team has investigated almost 120 properties. That has led to 12 warnings and five referrals to the unlicensed properties team.
Council leader Peter Mason said:
“Most landlords are responsible, but – with growing demand and a small minority of poor practices – it’s crucial we support better standards.
We are doing that by inspecting almost 200 properties and issuing 800 new licenses each month.”
What are the specific Article 4 restrictions the Ealing Council will impose?
The Council introduced two Composition 4 Directions on October 30, 2024, removing permitted development rights to convert single- family lodging houses (Use Class C3) into small HMOs( Use Class C4), which accommodate between 3 to 6 unconnected individualities participating introductory amenities similar as kitchen or restroom.
One Articke 4 Direction takes immediate effect in Perivale ward, meaning landlords must gain planning authorization before converting parcels into small HMOs there, with no previous discussion. The alternate Composition 4 Direction, withnon-immediate effect, will apply city-wide( banning Perivale ward and corridor under the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation area) likely coming into force by afterlife 2025.
These restrictions aim to give the council lesser control over the growth of small HMOs, managing original amenity impacts, safety, casing quality, and community enterprises about noise and anti-social behaviour.