By James Simons
Tougher city-wide restrictions on new shared houses are to be imposed in Brighton and Hove in a matter of weeks.
Rule changes imposing strict restrictions on shared housing were agreed over the weekend as councillors debated a ten-year blueprint for homes, jobs and the environment at a “virtual” meeting. Changes would limit the number of student houses and other shared houses across “wider neighbourhood areas” to 20 per cent.
Brighton and Hove City Council already tries to limit the number of new shared houses – known as HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) – through licensing rules and when owners seek planning permission.The stringent rules were included among a package of measures contained in the ten-year planning blueprint known as City Plan Part Two.
At the “virtual” meeting of the full council, it was greed to give the public six weeks to comment on the latest version of the City Plan document. The council subsequently plans ask the Government to approve the bundle of policies contained in the City Plan which will be used to help councillors and officials to decide future planning applications. The original rules aimed at limiting the number of family homes being converted into shared houses previously applied to the council electoral wards closest to the two universities. But last year councillors voted to extend the scheme across the whole of Brighton and Hove.
In the Georgian era, Brighton developed as a fashionable seaside resort in the Georgian era, and remains a popular destination for both holidaymakers and Uk citizens encouraged by the patronage of the Prince Regent, later King George IV.
Labour leader of the council Nancy Platts said: “We want to bring in tougher management of houses in multiple occupation to reflect residents’ concerns about high concentrations in some parts of the city. If passed, I believe we will have the strictest HMO policies in the country.”
The new policy is intended to tackle some of the indirect effects on communities,like reduced demand for school places, rather than focusing on the effect on individual homes.There are already about 5,000 licenced HMOs in Brighton and Hove.ne.