Issue - meetings

It is MOVED, SECONDED and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet considered the responses to the consultation set out in Section 5 of the report, and:

•         Authorise the Director of Law and Corporate Governance to confirm the non-immediate Article 4 Direction, which removes permitted development rights from C3 Dwelling Houses to C4 Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) for the remainder of the borough.

•       Authorise the Director of Planning to carry out the statutory notification of the decision to confirm the Article 4 direction

•       Note the legal and financial implications set out in Sections 6 and 7 of the report.

5.1     The meeting received an update report by Councillor Brenda Dacres, the Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing Development and Planning relating to the outcome of representation of making a non-immediate Article 4 Direction for Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) in the remainder of the borough. 

5.2      In introducing the recommendations, Councillor Dacres advised as follows:

·            That under Permitted Development Rights, individuals could convert a family dwelling to a small HMO of a maximum of six individuals without a planning permission without the need of a planning application.

·            That although exempt dwellings were not covered by Article 4, it should be recognised that HMOs were supporting the Council to manage its housing supplies, as they represented a legitimate form of housing in the London Plan and the Local Plan.

·            That Article 4 proposals would not only enable the Council to determine if HMOs were good quality and in a suitable location, but would also be able to prevent their concentrations in certain areas within the borough.  Thus, 81% of respondents who made representations were supportive of the proposals which would require individuals to apply for HMOs as part of the Council’s planning process alongside its licensing scheme.

·            That if the recommendations were approved, the policy would come into force on 19 January 2024, which would be 12 months after the Article 4 direction would have been published.

It was MOVED, SECONDED and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet considered the responses to the consultation set out in Section 5 of the report, and:

·                Authorise the Director of Law and Corporate Governance to confirm the non-immediate Article 4 Direction, which removes permitted development rights from C3 Dwelling Houses to C4 Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) for the remainder of the borough.

·                Authorise the Director of Planning to carry out the statutory notification of the decision to confirm the Article 4 direction

·                Note the legal and financial implications set out in Sections 6 and 7 of the report.