Greg calls on city council and Government to back new HMO planning rules

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 17th Jun 2009

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman for Newcastle East Greg Stone has tabled a motion to Newcastle City Council calling on the council to submit a formal response to the Government's consultation on changes to the planning framework for areas with a high concentration of Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Currently it is permitted to convert a family house into an HMO dwelling for up to 6 unrelated persons without planning permission. This has concerned residents and Lib Dem councillors in Newcastle East for a long time, as this has allowed the proliferation of HMOs in areas like Jesmond, Sandyford, and Heaton.

The Government has finally bowed to pressure from the Lib Dems and introduced a formal consultation on changing the rules.

Greg and the Lib Dems are pressing for the Government to adopt option 2, which would introduce a system similar to that already in force in Northern Ireland, requiring conversion of a family house into an HMO for 3 or more people to need "change of use" planning permission. However, the Government is also proposing "no change" as an option - this would clearly be unhelpful.

Greg said "I am bringing a motion to the July meeting of the city council calling on the council to submit an official response to the consultation supporting option 2, as per the Northern Ireland model, but will also propose a reversion clause which would mean that converting HMOs back into family homes will not require additional planning permission. If the Government agrees, it should allow much greater planning powers over proliferation of HMOs. If they do not, I pledge to seek to introduce legislation to this effect via a Private Members Bill if I am elected as Newcastle East's next MP, as I know this is a key issue in many residential areas."

The Lib Dems are also encouraging students and residents to submit their own responses to this consultation. Information is available at http://tinyurl.com/hmoconsult - the consultation runs until August 7th.