The Isle of Wight Council says it currently has no plans to follow in Portsmouth City Council’s footsteps by requiring all HMOs – houses in multiple occupancy – to request a licence from the local authority. But there are growing concerns from residents that HMOs are popping up ‘by stealth’ across the Island.
Portsmouth City Council has recently taken the decision to require all HMO properties to apply for a special licence, which will only be granted if specific criteria is met. A property is considered to be a HMO if 3 or more people are living at the address but form 2 or more households, with shared facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms.
Currently, only properties occupied by 5 or more persons require a mandatory licence – but that will all change from 1st September. This will have the benefit of stopping HMOs by stealth, as well as improving safety for occupiers and increasing revenue for the City Council. Those who fail to get the right licence could be prosecuted through the courts with an unlimited fine, or a civil penalty of £30,000.
Here on the Isle of Wight, the current rules are the same with properties of 5 or more people having to register for a HMO licence – starting price £1,140.
There has been a lot of negative press around HMOs in recent years, with anti-social behaviour and criminality often associated with the properties and their occupants. There has been uproar about previous attempts to open HMOs in Sandown and Carisbrooke, as previously reported by Island Echo in February 2021, June 2021 and October 2022.
However, it seems that now a slightly different approach is being undertaken by HMO operators. Smaller properties are being utilised, avoiding the need to apply for a licence and drawing attention to their plans.
On a quiet residential street in central Ryde, a charity has recently opened a HMO – but local residents were not given any notice or the opportunity to object. Now, those living nearby are experiencing issues with loud music, general anti-social behaviour and even suspected drug dealing.
Speaking about their experiences, 1 Island Echo reader has said:
“We’ve experienced a whole host of anti-social behaviour including shouting and screaming at all hours of the day and night, vehicles coming and going to drop off drugs to residents and not-so-friendly visitors to the property – on what was once a peaceful road.
“Unsurprisingly, the property next door has recently been put on the market and I fear that with no requirement for the use of the property to be publicly known, an unsuspecting buyer might not realise they’ll be living next door to these problems.
“Overall, it’s the lack of transparency that is the problem here and local residents should be made aware if properties like this will be in their area and have the opportunity to have a say if they disagree.
“Having now experienced one near to us, I would probably have appealed a plan to put one here”.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council has confirmed to Island Echo that the local authority does not currently have any plans to reduce the occupier threshold for a licence from 5 to 3.
In a statement, it has been said:
“At this time, we do not have enough of these types of HMOs or problems with them to justify discretionary or selective licensing schemes.
“Portsmouth County Council, with its larger population and different demographic (high number of university students), has many more HMOs than the IOW – as does Southampton. On an economy of scale, this provides a much better opportunity to cover the cost of providing an extended scheme.
“This doesn’t mean to say that it won’t be looked at in the future. We can of course review both schemes, should there be evidence to support. We are also keen to see what changes the government brings in relating to the private rented sector with the various Housing related Bills currently going through Parliamentary process.
“It is not possible to comment on individual cases, however if there are concerns with drug dealing or antisocial behaviour related to a property or its occupants the issue should be reported to the police online https://www.hampshire.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb-v3/report-antisocial-behaviour/ or via 101.
“Any issue with housing standards can also be dealt with using other powers and those concerns should be reported to our private sector housing team via the councils website or 8231000, further details can be found at https://www.iow.gov.uk/housing-and-adult-social-care/housing-services/housing-renewal/houses-in-multiple-occupancy-hmo/”.
These bloody IOW Councillors are slowly ruining this beautiful island by allowing HMOs houses to be opened. They wouldn’t have them in their street and you wouldn’t want the drug and alcohol dependents living next to you would you? Sandown is plagued with p*ss heads causing trouble in the High Street outside the shops and along the esplanade. STOP allowing these undesirable types to live in respectable residential communities.
The councillors don’t care they don’t have to live next to them. Let them try it for a month and see if they like it
Typical narrow, biggotted view. I’ve near aHMO & although there are problems it is nothing as bad as chucking out time at the local bars/pubs. It seems you automatically assume all these are people living in HMOs, this is certainly not the case. Perhaps we should change the licences
In Sandown there is a problem. They sit and get drunk in the shelters on the esplanade, the pee in the shelters, they poo on the beach. They don’t put their empty cans in a bin which undermines the efforts of the people who care and do clear up. They hang around drunk on the pavements so people have to step out into the road to avoid them. I’m sure there is much more. Which parts of this do YOU find acceptable? I’m sure not all residents in HMOs behave in this way. The minority maybe are giving these places a bad name, but it must be addressed and dealt with.
Isle of Wight Council are not interested in Sandown. We have so much trouble here from local HMOs over the past few years and are constantly objecting to buildings being used in this way. Police are constantly at a couple of properties in Grafton Street which is a lovely quiet residential road and 2 properties in Leed Street, problems with drugs etc.,
Does not surprise me.
Pompey have rules unlike the Island who have no idea what they are doing.
I lived in Pompey for a few years when work was quiet on the Island
Cheaper Council Tax too.
Plus you don’t have to pay to park your vehicle along Seafronts 365 days a year
24/7
After 6pm it use to be free.
Maybe of Blob Squealy had made good on his Island Deal and hadn’t voted for massive cuts to council funding they may have more money to do these things and less need to make up the difference with higher council tax and parking charges.
Let all these ‘oh so kindly’ people on here take them into their homes, as they never see the wrong.
Then IF they survive, they can come back on here in a year and tell us all how it all went.
Better still site the homes next to Police homes, or top Councillors home, and watch the ‘rules’ change then.
Much low life is self inflicted drugs, drink and they should be in caravans on the filled in landfill site and tagged and monitored at all times, and given the minimum to survive, and ‘thats’ too good for most of them.
someone recently said to me ” only look down on someone when you are helping them back up “.Just a thought
Ah yes but those looking up should take some accountability for themselves.
“Turn the other cheek” is another which also just gives more pain, and give the perpetrator a feeling of superiority adding to their empowerment of being horrid.
Nice ‘thought’ though, and in kids fairy stories always worked, shame the real world isn’t like than though.
By all means YOU provide that helping hand, and let us know how you get on please.
what needs to happen is that if anyone opens up a HMO such as a charity – that the charity owners/staff are held personally liable for any problems at the HMO. They should be told – as the likely residents of your HMO will be penniless junkie scumbags, you will be paying for any disruption they cause and you will personally pay the fines.
perhaps then these hand wringing, do gooding saps won’t be so keen on helping these deadbeats
So this council are encouraging smaller HMOs to pop up because they don’t need a licence.
Which potentially spreads problems over more properties and wider areas than would otherwise be the case if they were larger properties.
Absolute genius policy, as per usual from this shower council.
Council and Government are forcing landlords out of business, they will just sell,we all will then have to pay more in council tax etc to house people, crime and mental health wil increase too. Dum councils creating own problems for future. Max housing benefit for HMO is £65 per week,so 3 people only bring in £1000 per month, that’s £12,000 a year,take off tax, Council Tax, gas, electric, insurance, fire certificate,Gas safe etc and this new license. If paying a mortgage on property this is no way covered so forced to sell and make residents homeless. Pay 10x more in b&b
Yep the house next door to us was sold and is only meant to have 3 people in.
There are at least 5-6 as there have been at least 6 cars parked in the small close which has decreased other people’s parking. They are up till well after 1 in the morning banging doors, moving furniture, loud music. Complained to both landlord and agents but noone wants to know beside the fact they are evading and frauding the council tax.
So far two families have moved out .
Let’s hope iow will follow suite soon. Needs to be addressed.
I’m surprised at the IW Council missing out on a golden opportunity to get money in by not requiring any HMO to want a licence !?!
So a family comprising a married couple with 1 child, renting out their spare bedroom to an individual who can’t afford to rent ( let alone bye ) their own accomodation are now required to get a licence or face the chance of being fined. This will stop many families wanting to benefit from utilising a spare bedroom and add to the already disasterous lack of available accomodation. madness
I see the iow council are being as helpfull as always, brush it under the carpet.
The island is on it’s last legs, corrupt council, virtually no police, most expensive parking fees in the country, failing hospital and no hope GP services. Need I say more. But we do have a LOT of holiday homes, 2nd homes which sit empty for 9 months of the year though.
I’ve unfortunately had to work in many of these so called HMOs, they are all basically crack dens, and the so called charity’s are creaming all the housing benefits these scag heads get from us taxpayers, I’ve not been in one nice one yet, if you have one coming to a street near you, beware! They are a hub for antisocial behaviour and I feel for the neighbours of them.
One is planed for Ryde in Trinity St on the corner with Wood St. Near Dover Park Primary School.
This Hotch Potch of no one party council is not working