The UK's most up-to-date social housing and public sector news website
Shapps gives councils freedom to manage rented housing
Other Housing stories
- Pickles blasts prayers ban ruling - 'worship is hard-fought British liberty'
- Fact or Fiction? Tower blocks
- Council rapped over revealing tenants' 'social housing status'
- Crowded Oxford shelter lets rough sleepers use floor
- Private landlord fined for allowing tenants to live in 'hell-hole' home
Advertisement
New rules could cut as many as 8,500 applications from the planning system, freeing councils to focus on local priorities rather than micro-managing rented housing, according to Housing Minister Grant Shapps.
Mr Shapps has laid down new regulations meaning landlords will no longer have to submit a planning application to their council when wishing to rent a property to multiple unrelated tenants, unless councils know there is a high concentration of them already in the area.
Too many Houses of Multiple Occupation with short term tenants can turn a community into a seasonal 'ghost town', harming the local economy and increasing crime and anti social behaviour.
Mr Shapps argues that the current system may drive good landlords away from the rental sector, due to the current 'one size fits all' planning approach. The submission of a planning application to the council increases costs, slows the process down and limits the availability of homes and causes a drain on council resources.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: "Councils understand their local area best, and they don't need burdensome rules that assume housing issues in every town, village and hamlet are exactly the same.
"I am also committed to safeguard the supply of rented housing - shared homes are vital for people who want to live and work in towns and cities, and are important to the economy.
"That's why I'm giving councils greater flexibility to manage shared homes in their local area.
"Where there are local issues with shared homes, councils will have all the tools they need to deal with the problem - but they will avoid getting bogged down in pointless applications, and landlords won't be put off renting shared homes where they are needed."
David Salusbury, Chairman of the National Landlords Association, said: "We are pleased to see the Government has ended this unnecessary and wasteful bureaucracy whereby landlords are forced to seek planning permission to let to unrelated tenants.
"The current rules, rushed through before the General Election, are draconian and have threatened to drive good landlords away from the rental sector because of increased costs and red tape. The last thing communities need at this time is a restriction of affordable homes for rent.
"Planning permission will still be needed in certain small areas to control the numbers of HMOs. However, we believe it should be used as one of many tools available to local authorities and not the first measure undertaken.
"We very much hope this is a first step in the development of a more creative engagement between local councils and private-residential landlords."
Eric - http://
Commented 74 weeks ago
Troutman
The private sector savour strikes again what a good man he is for the private sector,
Reduce planning requirement and increase profit.
How about keeping the TSA, NTV & the Housing AC for the RSL Landlords which is what the tenants want not dictatorship for one sector and no regulation for the other some twisted idea of equality.
The local authority could not run housing before so what has changed?
Make the PSL comply with the same rules and regulation as the RSL never mind that it will cost the PSL money give a serious thought for the Tenant and not the greedy Private landlords.
Has he given any real thought to what he has done by deleting planning permission for change of use of a house.
1. He is allowing unscrupulous landlords to earn more public money.
2. Possible breaching health and safety issues by overcrowding.
3. Not providing the proper facilities within the house when converted to HMO
4. Get the fire department on the case before the issue of Fire Safety Certificate make this a legal enforceable requirement similar to Hotels and boarding houses.
5. Close down any HMO without such a Certificate.
6. The planning permission is there to protect the tenant from exploitation
I am sure I could come up with many more reasons for what he is doing wrong.
He is not doing anything to increase the number of homes only the profit from the public purse for the greedy landlords. Saving money I do not think so, read some of the other comments that spell it out better than me, by turning a 4 bedroom house into a HMO for 4 it gives the landlord 4 rents instead of only 1 before so he gets more from the public purse some strange saving Mr Shapps or are my sums so bad. Then as one person said they could get a GRANT not a loan to do the changes needed so more money from the public purse, this is very good accounting to say it is a saving Lets get Vince Cable on the case just to show how wrong his savings are.