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The areas are Aintree Road and Epsom Road, Arden Road, Rillside and Winterfold, Ringwood Close and Weald Drive (all in Furnace Green), Ardingly Close in Ifield, Farmleigh Close in Pound Hill, Caburn Heights in Southgate, Beverley Mews in Three Bridges and Victoria Mews in West Green.

The permitted development rights have been removed so anyone wishing to convert a property in these areas an HMO must apply for planning permission by submitting a change of use planning application to Crawley Borough Council.

The Article 4 Directions also seek to limit some of the negative environmental impacts, which can arise from the cumulative effect of multiple HMOs in a small area. The approach is consistent with the overall role of the planning system in promoting strong, balanced communities.

HMOs, which accommodate between three and six unrelated individuals, will now need planning permission in ten areas across Crawley

Atif Nawaz, cabinet member for planning and economic development, said: “We’ve responded to significant concerns raised by residents and implemented these Article 4 Directions.

“We were seeing growing evidence that HMOs were clustering in these areas, which contain a large number of three-storey townhouses.

“By bringing in these directions we’re able to reduce the negative impacts like noise and parking problems.”

The Article 4 Directions were approved by the council’s cabinet in February 2021. They were ‘non-immediate’, meaning that a 12-month notification period and a consultation had to be carried out before they could take effect. These have now been completed and the directions came into force on Wednesday (June 15).

For more details visit crawley.gov.uk/A4D

Houses need permission before conversion into HMOs in ten Crawley areas