Tighter controls brought in over ‘multiple living’

Warwick District Council’s executive committee agreed at a meeting on Wednesday night to adopt the new interim policy in advance of the overall Local Plan for development across the district being finalised.

The main aim of the policy is to control the existing concentration of Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), particularly in the south of Leamington where they have, according to council officials, led to a ‘significant loss of amenity’ for more settled residents.

In April Cllr Jerry Weber (Lab, Leamington Clarendon) raised concerns that the effect of HMOs was starting to ‘creep’ from the south of the town to the north.

He said: “Hopefully a new policy will help to create a more balanced approach to approving HMO planning applications and develop more balanced communities.

“This is what planning should be for - to look at the bigger picture and not just individual applications.

“In theory HMOs shouldn’t be a problem in our locality - we welcome students as they bring vitality to the town centre and help out flagging economy. Unfortunately there is another side to HMOs.

“If there are too many in a particular area, this can change the nature of the community, particularly as students are away for long periods of time. There can be issues of noise at night and an unwillingness to deal with rubbish satisfactorily.”

The policy states that planning permission will only be granted for houses in multiple occupation - including student accommodation - where the proportion of HMOs within a 100-metre radius of the site does not exceed ten per cent. Sites must also be within 400 metres’ walking distance of a bus stop and adequate provision is made for the storage of refuse containers whereby the containers are not visible to the public can only be moved to a collection point by an external route.

Exceptions can be made where the application is located on the campuses of Warwick University or Warwickshire College or on a main through fare in a mixed-use area where the proposal would not lead to an increase in activity along nearby residential streets.

The policy will apply to applications for development and changes of use across all Leamington wards while in other areas of the district, exceptions will be made where applications are made to change the use of houses to HMOs of up to six occupants.