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HMO consultation: Article 4 Direction
Hastings Borough Council is seeking your views on the proposal to adopt an Article 4 Direction that will result in planning permission being required for the change of use of a dwelling house to a House in Multiple Occupation.
The Direction will apply to the whole of the Borough of Hastings and will come into effect on the 02 July 2012.
The effect of the Direction is that planning permission will be required for the change of use of a dwelling house in Use Class C3 to an HMO in use class C4. The definition of a Class C4 use is 'a use by between three and six unrelated individuals occupying a property as their only or main residence and who share basic amenities (for cooking and/or personal hygiene)'. Social uses such as children's homes, care homes and bail hostels are not included in class C4. Properties where more than six unrelated people share are not in any use class and have always required planning permission
Our Private Sector Housing Condition Survey conducted in 2007 indicated that there were 2770 HMO's of all types in Hastings. This represents 8.1% of the private sector housing stock in the town, a much higher proportion than the other East Sussex Districts (which average 2% or less) and the national average of 2%.
85% of HMO's are concentrated in Braybrooke, Gensing, Central St Leonards and Castle Wards. It's believed that the number of HMO's is set to increase significantly and spread to other parts of the town, driven by an increase in student numbers as a result of the new University Campus and an increase in demand for smaller affordable accommodation, as a result of changes to housing benefit.
Problems associated with HMO's include noise, disturbance, anti-social behaviour, higher levels of crime, poor health, rubbish accumulation, alcohol and drug abuse and parking problems.
We recognise that well managed HMO's can play a useful role in the range of housing available in the town to meet local needs and the purpose of making the Direction is not to stop the provision of HMO's altogether, but to ensure that, through the need to obtain planning permission in individual cases, undesirable concentrations of HMO's do not occur anywhere in the town in future.
Suitable planning policies to prevent such concentrations are being developed through the Local Development Framework plan making process, which is the subject of a separate consultation.
Downloads:
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Designation of an area for additional HMO Licensing
Following a public consultation, the Council's cabinet has approved the introduction of an additional licensing scheme for Houses in Multiple Occupation. The designation was made on 14 June, and the scheme will come into effect on 19 September 2011.
Will my property be affected by the Additional Licensing Scheme?
The scheme will operate in Central St Leonards, Gensing, Braybrooke and Castle wards, and will cover all HMO's within these areas that are not covered by the current mandatory licensing scheme.
This includes bedsits, shared houses and buildings that have been converted into self contained flats, where the conversion does not meet required standards and more than one third of the flats are let to tenants.
If you are a landlord, manager or tenant of a property in any of the above areas, you should contact the HMO team at the address below, for advice about whether your property will be affected by additional licensing.
From 19 September 2011, it will be an offence for a landlord, or person otherwise having control of an HMO in the designated areas, to fail to apply for a licence. Such an offence may result in a fine of up to £20,000, and if prosecuted the landlord may be required to repay rent to tenants.
Designation
In accordance with the requirements of the Housing Act 2004, the Council must publish a 'Notice of Designation' before we introduce the scheme which is available on our Public Notices page.
It can be also inspected at Aquila House and the Town Hall.
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Additional Licensing Scheme: Consultation results
Following the consultation on HMO licensing that took place earlier this year, the findings can now be reported in the following document:
Please note this document was produced for print and may not be accessible for all website users.
