HMOs and the Article 4 Direction

HMOs and the Article 4 Direction – 14 May 2012, Union Council (Ref: 1112P16)

This Union Notes

1. From the 23^rd March 2012, Southampton City Council introduced a city wide Article 4 Direction where landlords must now apply for planning permission to convert a family home into a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO)
2. That Southampton City Council have posed a 20% constraint on the numbers of HMOs across the City, but in the areas of Portswood, Bassett and Swaythling a 10% constraint has been applied
3. That the reasons stated for applying the Article 4 Direction is to do with imbalanced communities, anti-social behaviour and environmental impact,  amongst others
4. That the Article 4 Direction policy is accompanied by a standards document which landlords have to comply with to receive planning permission
5. That Southampton City Council claim that the Article 4 Direction will help to drive up standards in HMOs

Union Believes

1. That posing a 10% constraint in the areas of Portswood, Bassett and Swaythling victimises students that attend the University of Southampton
2. That the standards document accompanied with the Article 4 Direction policy should include more of the SASSH standards which were written and agreed by the University of Southampton, Southampton Solent University, Southampton City Council and local landlords
3. That this policy may lead to an increase in rental prices for students as landlords will be limited in how many more properties they can build or renovate

This Union Resolves

1. To engage students in lobbying Southampton City Council on making the 20% constraint across the whole City, including Portswood, Bassett and Swaythling
2. To lobby Southampton City Council to include more of the SASSH standards in their standards document to ensure that an improvement in the standards of HMOs is seen
3. To ensure a regular dialogue is held with Southampton City Council about the implementation of the Article 4 Direction and how standards are enforced
4. To lobby landlords to keep rental prices at a reasonable level should they begin to increase as a result of this policy