Student housing: Belfast councillors frustrated as Stormont says it can do nothing over HMO levels in areas such as the Holylands and Stranmillis

A recent sitting of the Belfast City Council Licensing Committee heard details of a review by the Stormont Department for Communities on the HMO Act, which in 2019 gave councils new powers on houses of multiple occupation.

In the review the DfC said it “does not have the scope to reduce over-provision in existing areas that already have a high number of HMOs” and added it would not change the definition of a house of multiple occupation, as requested by Belfast Council.

HMOs have become increasingly controversial, with some arguing they have negatively affected communities and led to anti-social behaviour in places like the Holylands and Stranmillis in South Belfast.

Belfast councillors have also aired concerns that the problematic aspects of HMOs have spread into North Belfast, where numbers have increased in recent years.

HMO licence renewal cannot be refused on the basis of overprovision of such properties in an area, but new licences can be refused on this basis.

While the council policy is that HMO’s should not account for more than 30 percent of any area, in reality many streets well exceed this, with some in the Holylands reaching over 90 percent.

At the recent meeting SDLP Councillor and Committee Chair Gary McKeown said elected representatives were “frustrated at how passive DfC were around some of these issues.”

He added: “They as a department should be helping to shape communities, to ensure communities are sustainable and are able to provide adequate accommodation for a range of different people. We clearly see areas, particularly around South Belfast, where that isn’t the case.

“This was an opportunity to address that through proactive planning, and insist the system is better than what went before. But sadly, as we see with a lot of government targets, there is a certain passiveness which means the issues just roll on.

“This review does not indicate any major departure, and the scales have not been removed from the eyes of the department as to the the impact of some of these issues.”

Alliance Councillor Micky Murray said: “The City Council has a responsibility to bring about a rebalancing to communities which have seen high levels of HMOs become the norm, and ensure that no other communities are overrun by HMOs.

“The new HMO legislation in 2019 was designed to bring some sort of sense to the decision-making around granting HMO licensing and the managing of HMOs. It’s incredibly disappointing that they’ve continued to allow a loophole which enables landlords to essentially buy HMO licences in areas that are already over-provisioned.

“Being able to apply for an HMO licence on a property you don’t own, before you buy it, is unethical and over-provision should be taken into account when making decisions on these applications.”

As part of the review, Belfast Council asked for the period in which it may serve a notice of continuation of occupation to be extended from four months to six months. On this the department asked for “a further period of engagement.”

The Stormont department declined a Belfast council request to receive powers whereby it could receive from other statutory bodies any information they hold in relation to the “fit and proper” status of the proposed licensee or managing agent. The department said they “did not have the power to compel statutory agencies to share information.”

The department also said it would review the £45 upper limit cost to process a HMO licence application.