Liverpool plans citywide planning controls for small HMOs

Liverpool City Council is proposing to extend planning controls on small houses in multiple occupation across the city, with its cabinet due to consider the measures next week.

The proposed expansion, reported by Place North West, would bring areas including Speke, Croxteth and Vauxhall within Article 4 controls. Those neighbourhoods are not currently covered by such a direction.

What happened

The council wants to remove the permitted development rights that allow houses to be converted into small HMOs without a planning application. If approved, the change would make planning permission necessary for these conversions anywhere in Liverpool.

Small HMOs can accommodate up to six unrelated people. The proposal concerns the planning route for creating those properties: conversions that currently proceed under permitted development rights would instead require the council’s consent.

The cabinet report identifies two concerns about excessive concentrations of HMOs. It says they can affect the character and amenity of surrounding neighbourhoods, while also reducing the number of houses available to meet families’ needs.

The background

Article 4 controls have applied in Liverpool city centre since 2021. A study examining their effect found that they had restrained HMO development within the controlled area, while properties were being created rapidly beyond its boundary.

Council figures show that the number of small HMOs increased by 15% inside the existing Article 4 area over a three-year period. Elsewhere in Liverpool, growth reached 57% over the same period.

Despite that faster expansion outside the boundary, most of the city’s HMOs remain within the area already subject to controls. The figures therefore show a difference in growth rates, rather than a shift in where the majority of properties are located.

Liverpool’s proposal follows moves by other councils across the country to strengthen their controls on HMO development.

What people are saying

Cllr Nick Small, the council’s cabinet member for growth and economy, acknowledged the role HMOs play in meeting Liverpool’s housing needs. His position is that the council needs greater control over their location to avoid individual neighbourhoods carrying disproportionate pressure.

Small said the planning process would allow proposals to be assessed against their location and potential effects on residents and local services. The council is presenting the measures as a way to manage new provision, rather than rejecting HMOs as part of the housing market.

What happens next

Cabinet members are due to discuss the proposals next Tuesday. Approval would lead to a phased introduction, rather than all neighbourhoods becoming subject to the expanded controls at the same time.

The direction would take immediate effect in Kirkdale, Everton, County, Walton, Orrell Park and part of Fazakerley. Most of the remaining expansion would not take effect for another 12 months, making the location of a proposed conversion important to when the additional planning requirement would apply.