WARRINGTON South MP Sarah Hall has urged the Government to act on growing concerns around the unchecked conversion of family homes into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), during a debate in Parliament.
Ms Hall described how residents across Warrington South are seeing long-established family streets transformed overnight, with homes bought up and converted into HMOs without planning consultation or local input.
She said that the current rules, allowing a home to be converted into a small HMO without planning permission, were “out of step with reality” and had left councils and communities “powerless to plan with purpose.”
“On roads where people have raised families for decades, homes are being bought up, divided and converted in a matter of days. Residents wake up to find skips outside and new tenants moving in next door, with no conversation and no consultation. That’s what happens when planning rules overlook communities,” she said.
The Minister responding acknowledged in response that the Government “wants to engage and find out why existing powers are not working,” a commitment Ms Hall has described as “a welcome first step, but one that must now lead to real change.”
Ms continued: “It’s right that local councils like Warrington Borough Council are stepping up by introducing Article 4 directions, but they shouldn’t have to fight for tools that should already be standard.”
“We need a national framework that closes the loopholes and restores confidence that development is something done with communities, not to them.”
Warrington Borough Council’s consultation on the proposed Article 4 direction closes today (Wednesday 5th November). If approved, the direction will come into force from September next year, covering the town’s central six wards. More information can be found about the Article 4 Direction Consultation here www.warrington.gov.uk/article4-hmo.
Ms Hall concluded: “Every family deserves to feel at home in their own community.
“When people lose faith that planning system works for them, something is broken. The Government now has a chance to fix that.
“I’ll keep raising this issue in Parliament and working with Ministers and the Council to make sure local people have a real say in shaping the places they call home.”
