Mansfield MP suggests law which could boot out HMO residents to restore family streets is 'worth consideration'
The possibility of forcing HMOs to be turned back into family homes in areas where there are too many “can’t be off the agenda”, says Mansfield MP Steve Yemm – though it would be almost impossible to do so under current laws.
The number of HMOs, where rooms are rented out to individual, unrelated tenants, has increased in recent years for a number of reasons.
Mr Yemm has campaigned against an oversaturation of them in his Mansfield hosting a parliamentary debate on the issue and calling for the local council to take action by considering introducing legislation that means developers need to apply for permission to create an HMO.
Mansfield District Council are currently looking into the possibility of an HMO crackdown and have commissioned research into how widespread the issue is.
But if brought in, the legislation – called an Article 4 direction – would only mean that prospective HMOs would need permission, not those that already exist.
Mansfield District Council’s Executive Mayor Andy Abrahams said that while many details of the prospective Article 4 direction were yet to be determined, there “will be no requirement from property owners to retrospectively apply for licences or planning permission should an Article 4 be implemented.”
But Mr Yemm believes there could or should be action in the future to revert HMOs in areas where concentrations are “way above” where they should be.
He said: “Maybe there should be a test on streets to say, you know, you’re way above where you should be in terms of the concentration of HMOs – everybody’s going to have to reapply. Maybe there’s a case for that.”
“I haven’t really thought it through, but I’m open to the idea if it’s a real problem on certain streets.It’s a big undertaking but, you know, it can’t be off the agenda. I don’t think there’s a legal way to do it right now, but if people feel strongly about it and they’ve got really high concentrations of HMOs on their street, I think it’s something that’s worthy of consideration.”
Part of Mansfield District Council’s upcoming research into whether an Article 4 is needed will examine the areas in Mansfield that are particularly concentrated with HMOs.
Dr Nell Munro, professor of law at the University of Nottingham, says she thinks that it would be “very difficult” for any new laws to compel property owners to apply for retrospective permission for their HMOs.
“I think it would be very difficult to (require permission) retroactively. I think it could potentially be an interference with human rights, would be very problematic and runs afoul of the government’s existing policy to promote tenants’ rights. I can’t see how you could make that work. It boggles the mind a bit.
"It seems an inescapable puzzle. I just can’t see how you could do it retroactively while being consistent with the law. If the only way to enforce the revoked permission is to get the tenants out, (by) forcing the landlord to sell the property, then I think you’re on a hiding to nothing.”