Landlords who want to convert family homes in Birmingham into small HMOs will need to submit planning applications to do so under new plans revealed by the city council.

The local authority plans to introduce a city-wide Article 4 Direction, removing ‘permitted development rights’ for small HMOs, so that planning permission must be obtained before development can take place. 

Birmingham City Council is inviting public comments as part of a six-week consultation which began on June 6 and will close on 18 July.

It said these comments will be taken in to account when the direction is confirmed later this year. 

Following confirmation, the direction will come in to force on 8 June 2020. 

Why is the council introducing the new rules?

The council says high concentrations of HMOs ‘can have a negative impact on the character of neighbourhoods, residential amenity and create unbalanced communities’.

An existing Article 4, in place since 2014 and covering parts of Selly Oak, Harborne and Edgbaston, will be revoked to make ways for the city-wide restriction. This will take place on the same day the new city-wide direction will come in to force.

How will the council decide which applications should be approved? 

 A new planning policy is being proposed, which recommends application are refused where the creation of a new HMO:

• would mean multi-occupancy properties were forming more than 10% of homes in a 100m area
• where a family house would be sandwiched between HMOs and other non-family housing, 
• where there would be three of more non-family houses in a row. 

What does the RLA think?

RLA policy director David Smith said: “The RLA objects to any plans to introduce blanket regulation of this type.

“Small HMOs are an important part of the PRS, providing affordable housing for families and young people and we don’t support any moves to restrict tenancies to any demographic of tenant.

“Councils can tackle anti-social behaviour and the social problems related to it using enforcement powers they already have without making changes to planning regulations.”

What happens if conversion works are already underway?

Property owners or developers will be able to to complete any conversion works before the new rules come into force on 8 June 2020. After that date, all further proposed HMOs in the city will need to apply for planning permission. 

What if my home is already a HMO?

If your property is already a small HMO, planning permission is not required to continue this use. 

However, the local authority has told these landlords they must declare it, and provide details including the address of the property and evidence it is a HMO.

The council says it needs this information to ensure it has as much information as possible about existing HMOs in the city before the Article 4 Direction becomes enforceable.

How do I respond to the consultation?

For more about the consultation and how to submit comments click here.

Alternatively, you can also respond by email or post at the following addresses:

Email: [email protected]

Write to: Planning and Development, 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham, B4 7DJ.

• The RLA will be responding to the consultation and will publish its response in full once it has been submitted.

Find out more:

To read more about Article 4 Directions click here.

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