COVENTRIANS will be able to have their say on how Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) are licenced and prevent rogue landlords from exploiting vulnerable tenants at several drop-in meetings this month.
The city council’s additional HMO licensing scheme was introduced in 2020 and is up for review.
The scheme requires all HMOs in Coventry to be licensed but will expire in May 2025.
A three-month consultation started in July on re-commissioning the scheme and in-person meetings will take place over the next two weeks.
Under government laws, from July 2006 HMOs needed a licence if they were three or more storeys high and had at least five people living there.
However, in October 2018 the three-storey requirement was effectively removed.
The Additional Licensing scheme is a local power which if introduced by a council means all HMOs, including houses converted into self-contained flats without building regulations approval, require a licence.
Some properties weren’t built to be HMOs and landlords have exploited vulnerable people by renting out overcrowded homes, which heightens the risk of fires.
The ever-increasing number of HMOs has also had an impact on local communities including resulting in pest infestation due to inadequate rubbish storage leads.
Groups such as Coventry Action for Neighbourhoods were created in the city to campaign for more regulation to prevent the growing blight HMOs have on communities.
HMOs often provide cheaper accommodation for people who struggle to get a house of their own.
They are usually used by students, however, a growing number of young professionals and migrant workers share houses and flats and some HMOs are used by vulnerable people.
A public meeting will take place on Thursday, August 10 at Holbrook Community Care Association.
A second will take place on Tuesday, August 15 at St Catherine’s Church, while a third will take place at the Willenhall Community Forum two days later.
And the final meeting will be at St John’s church on August 22.
All of the meetings will take place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
Visit letstalk.coventry.gov.uk/hmo-additional-licensing? to take part in an online survey about HMO additional licensing.
