Greenwich Council has agreed to develop new protections for family homes to counter the growing threat of conversions to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), following a debate organised by Conservative councillors at the Town Hall.
Councillors from across the political spectrum voted unanimously to include new protections against the spread of HMOs in the forthcoming Draft Local Plan, which governs planning applications in Greenwich borough. The move followed proposals put forward by Conservative councillors Matt Hartley and Charlie Davis.
In a highly unusual move, the Conservative Opposition and Labour Council leadership struck a deal on the night of the vote on Conservative councillors’ proposals, to move forward with a set of 7 policy measures on HMOs that both parties could agree.
Many communities in the Borough have experienced the impact of a growing number of applications to convert family homes into Homes of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), and the Council has previously introduced measures to require these to be licenced. There are now 811 licenced HMOs in the Borough, and the Council has issued fines totalling over £1 million to landlords operating unlicensed HMOs.
As well as helping individual groups of residents to oppose inappropriate HMO conversions in their roads, Conservative councillors used the meeting to share residents’ frustrations at the narrow confines in which the current planning system operates – which severely limits the ability of the council’s Planning Committee to reject HMO applications.
Following the deal struck by Leader of the Opposition Matt Hartley and Council Leader Antony Okereke on Wednesday evening – with the two councillors shaking hands on a last-minute agreement on the floor of the Council Chamber – the Council will now move forward with 7 policy measures on HMOs, agreeing to:
- Take every available opportunity, in developing the Draft Local Plan to strengthen protections on HMOs and minimise the further loss of family homes in the future (including, as part of preparation and evidence gathering, considering the experiences and policies of other London boroughs/local authorities).
- Start the consultations on a new Local Plan this year to further regulate HMOs
- Introduce an oversaturation planning policy to prevent new HMOs in highly concentrated areas in the borough
- Ensure that there will be early and specific engagement with local residents and ward councillors in areas that have high (or increasing) levels of HMOs in recent years This will support wider efforts to ensure maximum public participation in the Draft Local Plan consultation
- Work with the Government to deliver a range of homes to suit our communities’ needs, which will provide social and affordable homes from purpose-built student housing through to young professionals, growing families, and extra care and supported living for those with additional support needs
- Welcome the fact that every HMO in the borough requires a license and this helps drive up the standards in the private rental sector
- Scale up the promotion and enforcement of both our Mandatory and Additional HMO licensing schemes to maximise coverage and compliance across the borough.
The new Draft Local Plan will be published for public consultation later in 2025, with the new plan expected to come into effect in 2027.
Speaking after the meeting, Leader of the Conservative Opposition Councillor Matt Hartley said:
“We have seen a big upward surge in applications to convert houses into HMOs, accompanied by understandable concern from residents about the loss of family homes. There is a huge need for family housing in the Borough, and we are losing more and more of it to HMOs. This trend is permanently changing the character of our neighbourhoods, and we simply cannot allow this to continue.
“The new Local Plan gives us an opportunity to put in place the stronger planning protections against HMOs that our communities need. We need to take this opportunity now, as there won’t be another for many, many years. So I am pleased that Conservative and Labour councillors were able to strike a last-minute deal in the Council Chamber that enabled these 7 new measures to be voted on unanimously.”
“It’s not always possible to put party politics one side, but when it is we should seize the chance, as we have done on HMOs – it’s what residents deserve and expect.”
Watch the full debate at https://royalgreenwich.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/986030/start_time/9370000?force_language_code=en_GB
