Reform UK MPs have called for tougher legislation around HMOs amid concerns of anti-social behaviour, turning some parts of their constituencies into “ghettos”.

During a Commons debate, Richard Tice said the proliferation of HMOs was leading to whole streets being transformed and communities being torn apart, while colleague Lee Anderson blamed “thousands of unscrupulous investors living thousands [sic] away from places like Ashfield buying up properties there and filling them with people who, quite frankly, I do not want living in my community”.

Anderson said while HMOs could be a good thing for people needing housing, their proliferation was turning some areas into ghettos. Government could introduce licensing for HMO managers and owners along with qualifications, training and accountability, he suggested. “Landlords and managers must also be held accountable for managing their properties, as well as for disruptive behaviour,” he said. “That should be a condition of any licence granted.”

Checks

He also called for vigorous background checks on all tenants with a separate licensing agreement or a tier for agents housing higher-risk people including those with mental health problems and vulnerable adults. “There should be access for licensed HMO managers to proper safeguarding tools…DBS checks and access to Clare’s law."

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook (pictured left) told MPs that 75 councils had already put Article 4 directions in place for HMOs in parts of their authority area. The government was also analysing feedback to its consultation into a new national planning policy framework, proposing a more flexible approach so councils could remove national permitted development rights to protect the amenity or wellbeing of an area, such as where there was an over-concentration of small HMOs.

Powers

Pennycook pointed to councils’ current powers to impose licence conditions to ensure landlords effectively manage HMOs and said it planned to establish a sustainable funding system for enforcement in the PRS, based on future database fee revenues.

Local planning authorities already had powers to limit the proliferation of HMOs, he added. “If local planning authorities are struggling to apply these powers effectively or feel that they are lacking, I want to know.”

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