MP welcomes planning rule changes

5.17.00pm GMT Thu 28th Jan 2010

Landlords will no longer be able to convert properties into shared rental accommodation without planning permission, following new rules announced this week.

The changes, which will come into effect in April, mean that landlords who want to convert family homes into Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) will now have to apply for planning permission from their local authority. The moves come after a concerted lobbying campaign by residents' groups nationwide, which included the Manchester-based Withington Civic Society, South East Fallowfield Residents' Group and the Community Guardians Group in South East Fallowfield and Withington.

Lib Dem MP, John Leech, who backed the residents' groups in their campaign, commented:

"These changes will help residents' groups to maintain a sense of community, which is sometimes lost with a spread of shared rental properties. They should also help to ensure that students don't fall victim to rogue landlords, as there will be more checks and balances in place to make sure that work done to properties to convert them to student houses is of a suitable standard."

Withington ward city councillor, Simon Wheale, added:

"Two years ago John Leech MP; Roger Smith, Chair of the Withington Civic Society; and I met the then-Housing Minister, Iain Wright, firstly in Westminster and then in Withington, to lobby for a legal requirement for planning permission to be sought for all conversions to Houses in Multiple Occupation. Before and after those meetings John Leech and I, with my ward colleagues Alison Firth and Brendon Jones, have strongly backed the excellent campaigning by local residents to get these planning rules changed. We are extremely pleased by today's ruling. It's now essential that Manchester City Council incorporates these changes into their Core Planning Strategy, which they are preparing at the moment.'