A new planning document has been adopted in East Suffolk to help guide proposals for the conversion of properties to Houses in Multiple Occupation.
East Suffolk councilt has adopted a new planning document which provides guidance as to circumstances which could be considered ‘exceptional’ when owners are proposing to convert properties to HMOs in the former Waveney area.
The Waveney Local Plan requires that ‘exceptional circumstances’ are demonstrated for conversions to HMOs but does not provide any further guidance. This new guidance note assists in the understanding by providing a list of circumstances which could be considered exceptional when an applicant proposes an HMO conversion.
A council spokesperson says: “This new guidance note provides clarity for property owners wishing to convert their building into an HMO and outlines the definition of an HMO, explains why planning permission for such conversions is required and also contains a range of useful information relating to licensing, building control and HMO standards.”
It turns out that the exceptional circumstances include, for example, if it helps local housing affordability, or if the HMO was for employees on low wages, or if the property concerned had been marketed as a non-HMO but had received no offers within three months.
The council document was subject to public consultation during its preparation and the comments received have helped to inform the final document. A consultation statement, published alongside the guidance note, demonstrates how comments were taken on board.
The guidance note only applies to the former Waveney area, as the former Suffolk Coastal area is covered by the Suffolk Coastal Local Plan which contains its own policy on HMOs, which does not include an ‘exceptional circumstances’ test.
This article is taken from Landlord Today