Reform UK’s big gains across England in the local elections could herald more councils taking a harder line on HMOs.

The party is celebrating taking control of a raft of authorities including Suffolk and Essex county councils, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Havering – with many still to declare. Reform councillors have voiced opposition to private landlords leasing to councils for temporary accommodation while Reform-led councils such as Durham, have introduced an Article 4 direction across the whole borough, making it harder for landlords to convert houses.

Reform MPs have also called for tougher measures; Les Anderson recently described some HMOs as being filled with “wrong ’uns” and suggested they were poorly managed.

Understand

CEO of HMO management platform COHO, Vann Vogstad (pictured left) says while some Reform councillors understand the HMO and shared-living sector well,  such as Wendy Whittaker-Large, chair of the HMO Action Group, there are others who are openly critical of them and have called for sweeping restrictions, hinting at the use of Article 4 directions to stop further conversions of houses into HMOs in party-run jurisdictions.

Last year in Warwickshire, protests outside HMOs were reportedly influenced by comments from Reform councillor George Finch, who linked HMOs with asylum seekers. Vogstad insists that most people living in HMOs aren’t from these vulnerable communities, they are often students and hardworking professionals.

“Industry estimates suggest there are 2 million tenants living in over 500,000 HMOs across the country,” he tells LandlordZONE. “Portsmouth was recently highlighted as an area of concern, however, city council statistics showed that the number of HMOs being used for asylum seekers is only a small proportion - 55 (or 1.6%) of the city’s 3,318 HMOs.”

Believes

Vogstad believes HMOs help to tackle societal issues such as the UK’s housing crisis, while also improving tenants’ living standards and wellbeing.

“These positive outcomes aren’t highlighted enough, with too many conversations leaning more towards the role HMOs play in proactively housing vulnerable communities,” he adds. “We hope a more balanced view prevails across all parties, and that a clearer distinction is made between immigration policy and the role HMOs play in providing essential housing.”

However, Reform UK’s anti-bureaucracy stance might also result in councils resisting large-scale selective landlord licensing schemes covering entire boroughs. Earlier this year, Richard Tice MP pledged to ditch the Renters’ Rights Act in a bid to reverse the fall in the supply of rental properties if the party won the next general election.

‍