Local politician slams landlords as “not caring” ...

A cluster of owner occupiers living near a city centre are demanding that landlords win planning consent before operating HMOs.

The Gloucestershire Live news website reports that there are about 140 signatures of residents near central Gloucester, on a petition calling on the local council to introduce restrictions on landlords.

They want the council to enforce an Article 4 Direction, removing the automatic development rights and insisting all HMO conversions win planning permission.

A local resident - Alan Brown - is quoted as saying: "We seem to have got lots of houses in Oxford Road being turned in to houses for students. There are lots of houses on Henry Road being turned in to HMOs. It used to be a family friendly area and really it's getting very crowded now.

"One of the other problems this generates is that there is no parking so Henry Road has got limited parking. Then you have got people who go to the hospital [Gloucestershire Royal Hospital] who park here, people who go to town who park here or the local school. It is very difficult to find anywhere to park during the day. The whole issue is the area is becoming overcrowded."

A local Liberal Democrat councillor, Jeremy Hilton - in whose ward the streets are located - says: “There are too many modest family homes in Kingsholm being converted into HMOs, by absentee landlords. They are just trying to maximise their income. They don’t care about a balanced community.”

Gloucester council says it will bring forward a strategy to “help address the growth of HMO properties” in the area.

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