Smaller HMOs fly under the radar as councils call for better data

A council has warned a lack of data on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) means it cannot bring in additional regulations.

Grimsby Live reports that North East Lincolnshire Council holds “very limited data” on smaller HMOs.

A cross-party working group met to hear what information the council currently has and was told that any future action on HMOs must be backed by evidence showing an existing problem.

Need to focus on HMOs

According to Grimsby Live, the council has confirmed 178 properties licensed as mandatory HMOs with five or more occupants, 53 in Park Ward and 52 in Sidney Sussex.

However, only HMOs with seven or more bedrooms require both full planning permission and a licence.

Those with five or six bedrooms just need a licence, while smaller three- to four-bed HMOs fall under the radar as they do not require a licence, meaning the council is not notified of their existence.

Council leader Cllr Philip Jackson said the authority wants to focus on HMOs but needs more data to justify further regulation.

He told Grimsby Live: “We all want to focus on this issue because we recognise it’s a significant issue not only in North East Lincolnshire but also in other parts of the country as well. It looks as if more work and investigations are needed to demonstrate its significance and that we have the necessary data to decide what we need to do going forward.”

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Nicola Aisthorpe (East Marsh) agreed, saying: “We can’t fix what we can’t measure.”

The working group agreed to recommend further analysis of census data and the Housing and Economic Needs Assessment (HEDNA) to better understand HMO numbers and the availability of one-bedroom homes.

Officers will also look at improving data collection across council tax and regulatory services to capture information on smaller HMOs.