HMO's Sprouting Up Like Mushrooms......

At the core of the problem is the failure of successive governments to ensure that we build enough housing to house our burgeoning population,

It is causing tension between generations as those responsible for this situation try to blame different sectors of the population for the problem. Old people are blamed for living in houses other people decree are too big for them, Strangely peole under retirement age living in houses - and there are, about a million such households - that are too big for them are never called out in the same way.

Where older people do downsize, someone was recently saying we should be penalised in some way because were stopping young people getting on the housing ladder because sellers preferred us as we are, almost always, cash buyers. Older people are damned if we stay in large houses, a damned again if we downsize. But the core of the problem is inadequate house building.

Just as councils are now being allowed to double tax and stop houses being turned into second homes, where there are too many of them, so councils should be able to limit the number of HMOs in areas of suburban family housing. In the inner parts of most towns there are old industrial buildings, compact older buildings with limited outside space and space over shops, converted offices that provide accommodation for HMOs. Mnay HMO tenants are students and young people who want to live in town centres.

Silverbrooks

So what? Students need a roof too.

Many universities reserve accommodation in halls for freshers only. Second and third year undergraduates and post grad students have to find commericial accommodation off campus.

If you live in a university town or city, surely this is expected.

Where would you have students live?

Most of the small Victorian houses in the roads closest to the university here are student accommodation.

Well, judging by the utter detritus some of them seem quite happy to generate, dearie, maybe a pigsty?

NotSpaghetti

All local councils have choices about granting permission or not to HMOs.

My daughter had a room in London in an HMO when she was working there in her 20s. All the others (4 others) were working too - aged between 20 and 40 ish. None were students.

It was quite a small room and she only lived there maybe 9 months.
Everyone was busy working and looking to move on in due course.

It worked well for her at the time - not so lonely as a bed sit either!

Because two similar properties in the same street already bought by Home Office some months ago and filled with young men of Asian appearance. This would, would it not, suggest asylum seekers/small boat migrants?
Who have, apparently, already attracted the attention of the authorities for anti-social behaviour.

Sorry, mae13 - I'm not sure I understand...

I was just commenting on how sometimes HMOs are fine in and of themselves- and not so lonely if you have moved for work.

mae13

......in my area, so much so that the local council is hoping to put restrictions on granting permission to any more applications in various parts of the city.
They used to be called Bed-sits, in bygone days, generally large family properties converted into battery hen-houses. The current generation of Houses of Multiple Occupancy seem to be standard 3 bed suburban semis suddenly transformed into living space for 5 tenants, usually students.
Owners who can't sell in the current market find themselves having to give in to developers at knock down prices.
The 3 bed house next to my brother has been snapped up by the Home Office and the rumour mill, among his neighbours, is working overtime.

A 3 bed opposite me was turned into a 6 person HMO. Obviously the landlord has no idea what's what, 6 adults creating so much general rubbish and recycling but only 1 bin for each. They get collected every 2 weeks and the amount of black sacks lining the pavement is ridiculous and no food waste bin. Don't get me started on the 5 extra vehicles blocking the pavement

Its the landlords responsibility to arrange for additional bins (just looked it up, it can be done) but if I were in the house I'd try too

Sympathies, can you contact your local councillor?

I don’t know about other cities, but Glasgow city centre has multiple high rise buildings dedicated to student accommodation. I assume some must allow students to remain after their first year at university.

Both of my adult children have had no options other than living in HMOs. They are both professionals, in their mid to late thirties.
One lives in London with her partner and two other couples in a former family home. The rent each of them pays is more than our mortgage (ie the total monthly rent is six times our monthly mortgage) and the house is maybe two thirds the size. Non of the couples can contemplate ever being able to their own home or think about having children. They are all still paying off their student loans and just about managing on their salaries.
They are all very involved in their community, they attend various clubs and one is involved in running a youth project and keeping the local community centre running in his spare time.
My other child is in a shared house in a different city- three single professionals in a former family home. They’d all love to have their own space but it’s not financially feasible.
They have reasonable salaries and good jobs (engineers, teachers, small business owners etc). Once a single person could afford their own flat on a professional salary. Now, not so much.

My daughter and husband had to move out of London to afford to raise a family, Dizzyribs.

I agree with Mae13 as I live in North Manchester and the area not far from where I live is predominantly made up of immigrants and HMOs have sprung up to house young men who are definitely not English so for those GNs who do not live in the north of England very near to the town centres will be unaware of the problems that have arisen...

Small question. Why is this in pedants corner?

2 bed Terraced houses in my nearby town are starting at about £100,000 - they are twice that price if I go a few miles the other way.
...Just looked and there are dozens of freehold houses here under 150.

It's definitely "area" related. Lots of cheap properties still if you can work from home or go in occasionally.

My other daughter moved from a flat in London to a cheap but beautiful terraced house (as above). She is really settled there now and the street is a happy place.

To those who could move I would suggest they consider it.

NotSpaghetti

My daughter and husband had to move out of London to afford to raise a family, Dizzyribs.

So did my son and DiL.

Dizzyribs, I'm sure that kind of increasing house use has responsible tenants -

I agree a lot of students don't treat their housing well, but not all. My city has seen an increase in purpose built student blocks but numbers of students increased too.

I read up on "who takes responsibility for gardens" and it depends on the landlord having it in specific tenancy agreements, but it also relies on them enforcing it.

Our local council had a limit on the nos of HMO’s within a given area, we are a university city, but given the nos of student accommodation in the area I firmly believe it’s time the students were charged council tax, obviously not the full amount but they are users of the council services and should contribute…

Tish - yes you are right. I think they should pay council tax really but as the "applicable reductions" are mainly income based it would exempt most of them... and cause 1000s of hours of admin..

What has this got to do with being pedantic?

I asked, "but answer came there none". Perhaps it's a new game?

People have always shared flats and houses. It's nothing new. Maybe they were more responsible tenants then?
In the past people went in to 'digs' with a landlady looking after them and providing meals too. There were hostels for working men and also women. Not everyone expected to have their own single tenanted/owned property.

I was sad to read your post, mae referring to students as pigs.
I am sure that some do behave as badly as you suggest, but it seems that this is an unhappy reflection of the old- people- judging - young- people trope.
The living habits of some elderly folk might disturb you, may, too - ask any carer, plumber or associated trades who have to enter homes. Hopefully we don't judge all of the older generation by the state of the bungalow bought by my DD and SIL; it was utterly disgusting and the neighbours had several tales to tell!

I'm not sure that HMOs grow like mushrooms.
Once they're converted,
that's it..

Silverbrooks

So what? Students need a roof too.

Many universities reserve accommodation in halls for freshers only. Second and third year undergraduates and post grad students have to find commericial accommodation off campus.

If you live in a university town or city, surely this is expected.

Where would you have students live?

Most of the small Victorian houses in the roads closest to the university here are student accommodation.

my town has a limit of 4 HMOs per street or less if its a small street ....I think that's wise ....I certainly wouldn't move into a strret full of students

In the past people went in to 'digs' with a landlady looking after them and providing meals too.

My Dad did this when he left home after he graduated, and moved towns to start his first job.
It was before he and Mum got married but she'd go and visit occasionally.

The landlady insisted on sleeping in the same bed as Mum.
None of "that" under her roof 😇

There is a new HMO in my son’s road, and at the moment the complaints seem to be about parking as it is a very small road. Round that area there are so many double yellow lines and parking restrictions it is nearly impossible to park anywhere near your home. Most people have residence parking permits but ii makes no difference as the people living in the HMO are entitled to have one as it is their home. Those with children do struggle to unload shopping and get children into the house due to there being no space to park. I guess it will work itself out, but do think that this should have been considered before hand.

We lived in a beautiful conservation area, it was made up of lots of Victorian/Edwardian houses, some were grand detached villas, some large terraces and more modest family homes.

Unfortunately as the large properties were sold in a less than perfect state the unscrupulous landlords bought them and turned them into HMO’s.

Despite an article 4 on the area 10 years ago the City Council is still allowing HMO’s and once a license has been granted on the property it’s difficult to remove..

We sold and moved out in March as the area was declining rapidly due to the types of people who were inhabiting these properties.

These were people that had no respect for their neighbours or environment they were rude, entitled, aggressive and had no respect for their law.

The landlords didn’t care.

We even had an incident where a tenant once called the fire brigade as he had lost his keys, they arrived thinking there was a fire as the tenant spoke little English when they arrived and refused to help he became aggressive as he didn’t want to pay a locksmith, he wanted them to climb through an upstairs open window and open the door from the inside.

I spent January 1st clearing broken glass and filling two bags of rubbish from the verge after some tenants had a party on the Avenue, they had set off fireworks between parked cars.

Overflowing bins were left out for months as the bin staff refused to collect them, vermin would then get in and scatter the contents.

I could go on and on.

Sadly a lot of these properties are occupied by people who are culturally very different from ourselves or people who should be in supported accommodation.

Never again would I live in area with HMO’s.

When I first met dh (in the 60s) he was a student living in a HMO, but then it was called a bedsit (shared bathroom, a Baby Belling for cooking) in a house with several others the same.