Decision details

In response to concerns about the impact of high levels of Houses in Multiple Occupation in Bath, the Cabinet considered a mixture of planning controls and housing-led solutions on 14th March 2012 and agreed to make a non-immediate Article 4 Direction. If confirmed, the Article 4 Direction would be supported by a Supplementary Planning Policy setting out the framework within which planning applications for a change of use from a dwelling house to a small HMO would be considered.  The first draft of this has now been prepared and is presented to Cabinet for agreement to publish for public consultation in Oct – Nov 2012.  The final decision to whether to implement the Article 4 Direction, adopt the Supplementary Planning Document and to proceed with Additional Licencing scheme for HMOs will follow in Spring 2013.

(1) To AGREE the Houses in Multiple Occupation in Bath: Supplementary Planning Document (Consultation Draft) for public consultation;

(2) To DELEGATE authority to the Divisional Director of Planning & Transport, in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing, to make final graphic and minor textual amendments prior to publication of the Draft Houses in Multiple Occupation in Bath Supplementary Planning Document;

(3) To NOTE the responses from the Article 4 Direction public consultation in response to the “intention to implement” notice (Appendix B) and the findings presented in the Stakeholder workshop report; and

(4) To NOTE the Equalities Impact Assessment of the draft SPD and the draft Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report.

A response is required to deal with the high levels of HMOs in parts of Bath. The recommended approach – Article 4 Direction plus Supplementary Planning Document and Additional Licencing is considered to be the most effective approach as it seeks to tackle housing quality and management issues retrospectively through Additional Licencing while also seeking further control on the expansion of HMOs through Planning Controls.

Four possible options to deal with HMOs in Bath were identified and discussed by Cabinet on 14th March 2012.  Various more detailed options were also considered in setting the policy approach in the draft Supplementary Planning Document and these were discussed with stakeholders.

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