Council Crackdown On Small HMO's

Local authorities all over Britain are targeting planning laws to control private landlords turning their properties into small Houses in Multiple Occupations – six months ahead of the time when they will be needed most.

The RLA has identified over two dozen councils invoking Article 4 directions prohibiting HMOs.

Landlords are being stymied by local authorities from attempting to offer a market solution to what homeless charities are warning could be a serious problem.

Planned changes to the Shared Accommodation Rate kick in next January and will mean that an estimated 88,000 25 to 34-year-olds on housing benefit will have to seek shared HMO accommodation, virtually all of which would be in the private rented sector.

From the New Year, changes to the rules mean that single people up to the age of 35 will no longer be able to live in their own self-contained rental flats. Instead, it will only cover shared accommodation.

But landlords who are currently renting properties out to a single household will now have to seek planning permission in a growing number of towns and cities if they want to let the same property out to three, four or five people sharing.