Crackdown on unlicensed or poor quality HMOs across Arun

Arun District Council could impose tougher rules on landlords who convert and rent out homes for multiple families to live in.
By Jessica Hubbard, local democracy reporter
Published 14th Jul 2022, 13:19 BST
Updated 14th Jul 2022, 13:19 BST
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The council wants to make sure that houses in multiple occupation (or HMOs) are of a decent standard.

They usually have a minimum of five people from two different households living together and sharing facilities.

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ADC’s cabinet supported tighter regulations for such homes back in 2020 and a recent report on the 1,396 HMOs in the district found that, whilst many are managed well, ‘this is not always the case’.

Councillors Bob Waterhouse and Matt Stanley outside a HMOCouncillors Bob Waterhouse and Matt Stanley outside a HMO
Councillors Bob Waterhouse and Matt Stanley outside a HMO

HMOs have to meet minimum standards for room sizes, access to facilities, and fire and gas safety and it is a criminal offence to operate certain HMOs without a licence.

It is thought that more than 100 HMOs are being run without the required licence in Arun and the council wants to impose new rules in the three wards where they are most common – Marine, River, and Hotham.

This is particularly urgent as HMOs in all three wards had a high number of safety issues which could lead to death or serious injury in some cases.

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It is hoped that proactive inspection and enforcement could address this. But the extra work is expected to cost the council around £800,000 over five years.

On Thursday (July 14) the council’s Environment Committee will be asked to approve initial funding of £80,000 for new staff and a consultation exercise.

Some councillors have been campaigning for stricter controls for years.

Matt Stanley (LDem, Marine) felt that the quality of HMOs must be improved.

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“HMOs are an important housing option for residents,” he said, “however we have a significant proportion of them within the area.

“The Conservative run district council needs to be focused on improving the quality of the HMOs we have, rather than green lighting more.”

He says that HMOs lead to increased numbers of residents in a given area which can put pressure on local schools, doctors surgeries, and roads.

A number of B&Bs in Bognor Regis have recently been converted into HMOs and Mr Stanley believes more should be done to support these businesses so they are not converted into housing.