Third bid to tighten HMO rules rejected
BBCCouncillors have rejected a third bid to tighten the rules around houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in a part of Lincolnshire.
South Kesteven District Council had been asked to consider forcing landlords to get planning permission before converting a property into a HMO.
Conservative councillor Sue Woolley has repeatedly tried to bring a vote over "a gap" in systems to control numbers and concerns about asylum seekers being moved into properties.
Charmaine Morgan, who chairs the authority's planning committee, said the matter was being looked at and the proposal would "add an extra layer of work".
Landlords wanting to convert a property into an HMO with six or fewer tenants do not need planning permission, but councils have the power to remove this exemption.
Woolley wanted the council to demand permission for all HMOs, regardless of size, and argued they could "change the entire demographic of an area".
"If you've got 40, three and four-bedroomed houses, which have families, and landlords come in, buy them up and change them into HMOs, you're not going to need schools because the tenants will be adults," she said.
On Thursday, during an extraordinary meeting, Woolley raised concerns asylum seekers could be moved into some properties without the council or community knowing.
Nationally, about 66,000 asylum seekers were housed in taxpayer-funded "dispersal" accommodation, including HMOs, in the first quarter of the year, according to analysis of Home Office figures by the Migration Observatory.
During the debate, Conservative councillor Matt Bailey said HMOs had contributed to "the housing squeeze, with companies buying up family properties and converting them".
"A number of HMOs across the district are being used by government contractors to house asylum seekers," he said.
Independent councillor Phil Dilks argued a change could affect "a group of friends deciding to live together" and claimed new rules would cost the council money.
Previous votes on the matter did not take place because the first meeting ran out of time. A second vote was postponed when it was decided to refer the issue to committees.
Morgan said the committee was researching the rules and impacts around HMOs and the motion would "delay" this work.
She agreed that HMOs could "change the character of an area", but said "any action we take has to be evidence-based, so we need to gather that evidence".
The planning committee is due to report back before Christmas.
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