Words by Erdington Ward Cllr Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives
Over the summer Cllr Gareth Moore and I have continued our campaign fighting the growth of badly run exempt accommodation and HMOs in the area.
Every converted house that residents report to us we report to the Council to inspect.
We have been raising issues with a number of exempt accommodation units with Severn Trent regarding if the sewer system can handle all additional bathrooms, the Fire Service to inspect if adaptations have been carried out safely and legally, especially since many are in terraced houses and connect to neighbouring properties, building control to discuss if regulations have been followed for conversion work, and with the Police regarding any incidents that have taken place.
We have also held public meetings (Gareth pictured meeting with residents off Erdington High Street regarding a property being converted) and met providers to raise concerns directly.
The big barrier with stopping the growth of supported exempt accommodation is the fact it is currently exempt from planning permission due to the 2004 Housing Act. This literally means that someone does not need planning permission to convert a family house into this type of accommodation.
Clearly this is totally wrong and must change. That is why we have been calling on the Government to introduce a statutory instrument to amend the 2004 housing act so that it requires planning permission going forward and can then be restricted to stop the further loss of family housing.
We have a petition backing this campaign. You can sign at: www.birminghamconservatives.org.uk/campaigns/bring-exempt-accommodation-under-local-planning-control-protect-our-communities
For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Jones visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews
