4,500 HMOs in Luton 'at best a guesstimate', meeting told

“We just don’t know how many three-person houses in multiple occupancy (HMO) there are because they don’t count within the requirement,” said Liberal Democrat Wigmore councillor Alan Skepelhorn.

“There is a plethora of them, certainly in the central wards, that have had properties turned into HMOs.”

HMOs serve as a vital source of accommodation for a section of residents who are unable to afford property in Luton, according to a report to the council’s petitions and representations board.

This includes “students, public service workers, shift workers, young professionals, and those on a low wage who may otherwise be homeless”.

The council’s top priority is to eradicate poverty in the town and raise the standard of accommodation so everyone has “good quality affordable homes”, said the report.

Planning policy manager Sarah Barker said: “This has been raised at the overview and scrutiny board.

“We have a working group set up to gather information to understand the issue and how it applies to Luton.

“And what the planning system can do to best to resolve it. Now the licensing system fits alongside that and works with it.

“Some of these properties don’t have the right standards for building regulations.”

She apologised for the eight-year period during which the topic has been on the council’s agenda, outlined in the report.

“It is due to resources in the planning department and competing priorities,” she explained.

“We will take a report back to overview and scrutiny board, as soon as reasonably possible. That is our intention.

“It will explain what planning can reasonably do to address this issue and what other teams in the council can contribute.”

If an Article 4 direction was agreed “it would come in with a year’s delay from when you implement it to avoid compensation”, she told the panel.

“The suggestion was made you could pilot this in High Town. That’s great for High Town.

“But how does that represent the other wards which have got the same problem?” she asked.

“There are other wards where you have this concentration (of HMOs) also.

“I would not be able to advise or suggest that we went down a High Town only approach. I think that could potentially be divisive with ward councillors.

“An option would be to put a direction on the whole of the town.

“But, when you look at the peripheral wards, I think we struggle to provide the evidence to justify that.

“We can be challenged by the Secretary of State if we are seen not to have taken a reasonable approach to this issue.

“The challenge becomes ‘how do you deal with the enforcement of the people who don’t apply for planning permission?’ and that’s the example of the extreme end, the bad landlord, the rogue landlords team and the police left dealing with it.”

She described “the team on the ground which has powers to go into the accommodation” as “the best mechanism” for dealing with any issues.

“All we can do is look at a site plan,” she added. “We support the council’s decision to go down the selective licensing route.”

Council leader and Labour Lewsey councillor Hazel Simmons said: “People on benefit need decent housing. Often these HMOs are not decent housing.

“If this solves that, it takes us forward a step. I absolutely support we need to do something about it.”