03-15-2010
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After April 6th 2010 if you want to rent a house to three or more unrelated people such as nurses sharing, a family with a lodger, students, young professionals, immigrant workers and even the elderly, you will need to obtain planning permission.
This follows the Department of Communities and Local Government’s consultation in July 2009 on possible ways to deal with the increase of ‘HMO ghettos’, where large numbers of HMO properties cluster together in a small area. This issue is particularly prevalent in areas with high student populations.
The Government responded to the consultation by confirming changes to the Town and Country Planning Act ‘Use Class’ Order to introduce a new class for HMOs, giving local authorities the powers to manage the development of HMOs in their area. The changes mean that landlords are required to apply for planning permission in order to establish a new HMO with a change of use, for example when the use of a property is altered from a family home to a shared house, with three or more tenants who are not related and who share basic amenities. The threshold is currently set at six people.
Existing HMOs will not be affected by the change in legislation as they will have an ‘established use’ at the date the legislation changes.