City says it’s ‘best in UK’ at HMO management but landlords disagree
Row breaks out with Portsmouth as landlords challenge positive findings of HMO review, claiming it has 'wiped out’ supply of smaller properties.'
Portsmouth City Council has been forced to defend its HMO management regime after a positive independent review sparked a fierce backlash from local landlords who claimed the additional licensing scheme has ‘wiped out’ smaller HMOs and ‘thousands of affordable rooms.’
The Local Government Association review, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, praised Portsmouth’s ‘more sophisticated approach’ and rejected claims from the Portsmouth & District Private Landlords Association (PDPLA) that the council was an ‘outlier.’
At the forefront nationally in using every available tool to responsibly manage HMO growth.”
Councillor Hugh Mason (pictured), Cabinet Member for Planning Policy & City Development, says Portsmouth “remains at the forefront nationally in using every available tool to responsibly manage HMO growth and ensure safe, high-quality living standards for residents”.
The review highlighted Portsmouth’s tiered licensing system, which rewards compliant landlords with lower fees, and its ‘more transparent’ enforcement policy with a clear ‘ladder of escalation’. It noted that Portsmouth’s approach is becoming increasingly popular as councils expand additional licensing beyond small ward areas towards citywide coverage.
bureaucratic and difficult
However, PDPLA chairman Martin Silman maintains the scheme should never have been introduced and argues that the idea HMO growth was ‘out of control’ was based on data ‘never supported by any local evidence’. And he has dubbed the process ‘bureaucratic and cumbersome.’
And he adds that Portsmouth’s system is more ‘complex, bureaucratic, and difficult to negotiate’ than comparable schemes in Southampton or Bristol. He cites the example of Bristol’s application form, which takes just 20 minutes to fill out, whereas Portsmouth’s is 84 pages long.
And, although Portsmouth’s claims that its licensing fees are mid-range, Silman points out that the standard licence lasts just 2.5 years, with landlords facing extra costs and must ‘jump through hoops to obtain a five-year licence.’
