Leicester council consults on huge new HMO control scheme

Letting agents in Leicester will have more red tape to deal with if plans to bring in a huge new HMO licensing scheme come to fruition.

The city’s council is seeking feedback from landlords and letting agents on its Article 4 plans that would control the number of homes being converted to HMOs across a much larger area and greatly increase local property management bureaucracy.

The announcement comes just two years after a local letting agent was fined £80,000 for breaking local HMOs licensing rules.

An Article 4 Direction has already been in place since 2014 in several areas of the city, but the latest proposals will expand, and in some cases join together, those areas to include thousands of more buildings in areas with high numbers of HMOs.

The existing direction covers parts of the West End, streets near to De Montfort University’s campus and Leicester Royal Infirmary, numerous streets in the area between New Walk and HMP Leicester, as well as most of Clarendon Park and a section south of Lancaster Road.

HMO areas added

The latest HMO proposals would extent the West End zone to stretch from Rowley Fields, to Westcotes, Newfoundpool and parts of the Waterside area, while the Clarendon Park area would be extended to incorporate much of Knighton Fields, Knighton, Stoneygate and part of Aylestone. A third new area would include much of Spinney Hills and Highfields.

Leicester City mayor Peter Soulsby says: “Over the past seven years, areas of concentration have expanded, with higher numbers of HMOs appearing beyond the original areas.

“It is therefore important that this legislation is available to us to prevent unrestricted numbers of HMOs from appearing elsewhere in the city.”

The consultation runs from 18^th November until 13^th January and if the proposals get the green light, the extended Article 4 Direction would be in place 12 months later.