In order to control the spread of HMOs Sutton Council has withdrawn permitted development rights that allowed owners to convert properties into smaller HMOs without needing to get permission from the local council.

Councillor Jake Short (pictured), Chair of Sutton’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, has assured residents the council is not against HMOs.

Important role

He acknowledges that they perform an important role in helping to solve the borough’s housing crisis and ‘offer affordable accommodation and meet diverse housing needs.’

But he added that they must adhere to planning rules and was concerned that there had been limited local input before larger homes were turned into HMOs and was resulting in too many family homes being lost.

Future proposals for HMOs will be scrutinised by the council.”

He said: “This Article 4 Direction will ensure that any future proposals for HMOs will be scrutinised by the council against the full range of relevant planning policies ensuring that decisions are consistent.

“Any HMOs permitted by the council in future will be high-quality and will not negatively impact on the local area.”

He did, though, admit that the most immediate effect of the rule change would be a spike in the number of planning applications to Sutton’s already busy Planning department.

As was reported in The Neg, more and more councils are taking similar action, including, Walsall and Merton, as have many student towns such as Brighton, Oxford, and Cambridge.