HMO owners in Portsmouth advised to sell up or create family housing to avoid tougher city council licensing rules

OWNERS of small HMOs in Portsmouth have been advised to either sell up or switch to family housing by the organisation representing landlords in the city.
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Portsmouth and District Private Landlords' Association chairman Martin Silman said council proposals to widen licensing rules, coupled with reduced student demand and 'record' rents for small family homes, had created a 'perfect storm'.

'The net impact of these points is that the most in need will have nowhere to live,' he said. 'The number of small, nice homes for three or four nurses or dockyard contract workers will decrease and the number of mega HMOs will rise in response to the high demand and high prices that this will create.'

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Last month, Portsmouth City Council's cabinet approved a consultation on additional licensing, which would extend the current system to cover three- and four-bed HMOs.

‘HMOs are nearly three times more likely to have the worst hazards than other privately rented properties,’ cabinet member for housing Darren Sanders said. ‘That scandal must be tackled.'

The proposal has won the support of University of Portsmouth Students' Union democracy and campaigns officer, Dom Owen and Labour spokesman for housing Cal Corkery who said it would improve standards.

But Mr Silman, who spoke out against it at the cabinet meeting, said the scheme would not help resolve issues in the sector.

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In the association's monthly newsletter he said it would 'squeeze out' smaller rooms and push up prices by increasing landlords' requirements.

'If you have a small HMO (three or four beds) you probably need to think about family lets for the next four or five years,' he said. 'Either that or extend the property to convert to a seven or eight bed HMO as only then will you be able to hope to break even.'

There are an estimated 6,000 HMOs in the city. Under current rules, 1,226 are mandatorily licensed.

Research carried out by the council showed almost a third of those inspected had ‘category 1’ hazards - the most serious kind.