Manchester plans Article Four Direction for whole city to stop HMO spread

Manchester City Council is to make an Article Four Direction – covering the whole city – to stop the spread of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

The direction means that the local authority has effectively opted out of government changes introduced on 1 October. Under the Town and Country Planning Order, developers would ordinarily no longer need planning permission to turn houses into shared houses.

The Article Four Direction, when it comes into effect in October 2011, will mean that developers still have to apply for permission. The council said the direction would have an impact in areas of the city such as Fallowfield and Withington.

Cllr Nigel Murphy, Manchester's executive member for the environment, said: "We know a lot of residents are concerned about the spread of shared houses, particularly in areas in the south of the city, and we are keen to do whatever we can to manage this spread.

"The new law would have meant that any control over the spread of shared houses would have been taken away from us. However, we need to be able to tackle the problems caused by the uncontrolled growth of shared lets, making sure communities retain the identity of their neighbourhoods, and that is why we are now introducing this order."

Earlier this month a group of local authorities led by Milton Keynes Borough Council applied for judicial review of the government’s relaxation of the rules governing HMOs.