Houses in Multiple Occupation: Planning Consent Debate
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Daniel Francis
Main Page: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)Department Debates - View all Daniel Francis's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Houses in Multiple Occupation: Planning Consent
Daniel Francis Excerpts(1 day, 11 hours ago)
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Steve Yemm
I agree with the hon. Member, but we need to get the balance right between the failing landlords and the very many good landlords we see.
Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for bringing forward this debate and for the recommendations he has made. In the London borough of Bexley, we have an article 4 direction, but we are beginning to see landlords setting up charities and housing associations that do not appear to comply with the ethos of such organisations, simply to get around the rules. They do not then require planning permission, as we have recently seen in Highfield Avenue in Northumberland Heath. Does my hon. Friend agree that we also need to look at landlords setting up those organisations to get around the rules?
Steve Yemm
As my hon. Friend would expect, I am sympathetic to that suggestion. However, that is not an experience I share, because I have a local authority that makes virtually no use of article 4. Certainly, if people are circumventing it, there is clearly a case for reform there as well.
To conclude, my overall message is that we need to think about how we reform article 4 to make it easier to justify, quicker to implement and fairer to landlords and residents. It should also be anchored in local decision making, rather than just about top-down approval. And we must ensure that our councils are funded properly to undertake compliance.
All we are really asking for are the tools to protect our towns and make sure that every street remains a place where people can live, grow and thrive together. Let us act now, trust councils and residents and make sure that planning policy works for our people, not against them.