Darlington looks set to be the latest council bringing in tougher rules to control the growth of small HMOs.
The town council votes today on whether to approve its plans for a borough-wide Article 4 Direction to enable planning scrutiny of applications.
It wants to control the location and quality of new HMOs as a report explains that concerns have been raised about the quality of accommodation and their concentration within certain wards following a recent increase in numbers.
A search on one website revealed 116 entries for properties advertising spare rooms in the Darlington area.
The report adds: “The introduction of a borough-wide Article 4 would ensure that the local planning authority are better equipped to manage the location and proliferation of HMOs across the borough to ensure that the overall housing needs are not detrimentally impacted in certain areas through loss of family sized accommodation.”
It says a blanket Article 4 Direction is needed otherwise problems could be pushed to other areas of the borough if it is only introduced in a smaller area. The council has also promised to carry out a consultation.
Earlier this year, residents on Greenbank Road in Darlington urged the local authority to introduce stricter measures to curb the number of properties being converted into HMOs, according to Teesside Live.
They said landlords were contributing to the “uncontrolled transformation” of their neighbourhood, as more homes were reconfigured to suit multiple occupants.
Meanwhile, Darlington has also revealed a new strategy outlining the council’s vision to provide high-quality homes over the next five years, with a focus on building new affordable homes.
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