Home is where HMOs aren’t, according to Durham campaigners

The East Durham Communities Standing Together group are calling for councillors to limit the number of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) from making their way into the city.

For many, the benefits of living in an HMO outweigh the negatives, but campaigners from The East Durham Communities Standing Together group don’t fall into this category. Since the beginning of the year, the group have made it their mission to limit the number of HMOs in the city as they believe some of the most deprived areas are being targeted by landlords interested in cheaper house prices.

Image: The Northern Echo.

‘The attraction is clearly the price of housing,’ Dr Brian Brown, chair of the campaign group said. ‘If you go to Blackhall or Horden, there are streets of empty houses. There’s real concern among residents.’

‘We want to put our arguments to the councillors and officials and let’s see what their arguments against ours are,’ Dr Brown added.

It seems many also echo this tone – earlier this year the campaign group launched a petition to inform individuals of new HMO applications, and it was signed by more than 150 people.

Ramping up their efforts, campaigners staged a protest outside the local authority’s County Hall headquarters yesterday, urging for the council to introduce measures known as Article 4 direction – landlords involved with developments for six or less people would need to apply for planning permission.

‘Applying for Article 4 direction won’t stop [HMOs], but it will mean they all go through proper planning permission, which is only right given the amount of anxiety in the community,’ Matt Tough, one of the group’s members, said.

However, the response from Cllr James Rowlandson, cabinet member for resources, investment and assets, suggests campaigners shouldn’t get their hopes up anytime soon for progress being made.

He said: ‘We can apply to the government to implement an Article 4 direction where there is evidence of HMOs having a detrimental impact on the community.

‘However, there is a very low proportion of HMOs in East Durham and there is no evidence that they are causing issues.’

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