Refusal citing cumulative impact of HMOs

A refusal citing the cumulative impact of houses in multiple occupation almost always rests on a number: the proportion of properties within a stated radius that the council says are already HMOs. That figure is the thing to interrogate first, because concentration policies are applied mechanically and the underlying data is frequently out of date, inconsistently defined or drawn from a licensing register that was never built for planning purposes. An appeal that attacks the arithmetic succeeds more often than one that argues the policy is unfair.

The second thing to check is whether the property was already in lawful C4 use. If it was, the concentration policy may not engage at all.

How concentration policies are written

Most authorities with student or shared housing pressure have a local plan policy or supplementary planning document that restricts new HMOs where they would take the concentration in an area above a stated level. The policies share a common shape.

A threshold expressed as a percentage of residential properties within a defined radius of the application site. A radius, commonly measured as a straight line from the centre of the application property. A sandwiching test preventing an HMO immediately between two existing HMOs, and sometimes a rule about consecutive properties in a terrace. And a set of amenity criteria covering room sizes, refuse storage, cycle parking and parking stress.

Read the policy wording carefully before deciding how to appeal. Some policies say permission will be refused where the threshold is exceeded, which is close to absolute. Others say it will not normally be permitted, which leaves room for a case on the individual merits.

Note which document carries the threshold. A threshold in an adopted local plan policy carries full development plan weight under section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A threshold in a supplementary planning document is a material consideration with less weight, and that distinction is worth making in the appeal statement.

Threshold percentages and the radius used

The percentage and the radius vary widely between authorities, and both are policy choices rather than national standards. What they have in common is that small changes in either produce very different answers.

A tight radius around a single property may contain only a few dozen homes, so one or two properties can move the calculation across the threshold. That sensitivity is the strongest practical argument for checking every entry in the dataset rather than accepting the headline figure.

Ask three questions about the method. What counts as a residential property in the denominator, and does it include flats, purpose-built student accommodation and non-residential buildings? How is the radius measured, from the centre of the property or the boundary? And what counts as an HMO in the numerator: licensed HMOs only, or any property believed to be in shared occupation?

The answers should be in the policy or its supporting evidence base. Where they are not, the authority is applying an unpublished method, and that is a point worth making.

Council tax and licensing data as evidence

Councils build their HMO datasets from three main sources, and each has a different flaw.

Mandatory licensing under the Housing Act 2004 covers HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households. Smaller HMOs, including a three or four person share in a C4 property, do not appear unless an additional licensing scheme is in place. So a register-based count systematically misses the smaller end.

Council tax records pick up student exemptions and some HMO bandings, but a household of young professionals sharing is indistinguishable from a family on council tax alone.

Planning records show permissions granted for HMO use, which misses everything that happened under permitted development before an Article 4 direction took effect.

The practical consequence is that a council dataset is usually a blend of all three, with duplicates and gaps. Request it. An environmental information or freedom of information request for the dataset used in the officer report, with the date it was extracted, is routine and the authority will normally supply it.

Sandwiching and street level tests

Sandwiching tests are easier to verify and easier to dispute. The policy typically prevents an HMO where the properties on both sides are already in HMO use, on the basis that the family property between them loses all residential neighbours.

The dispute is usually about whether the flanking properties really are HMOs now. A property that was an HMO three years ago and has since reverted to single family occupation is not an HMO, and the burden of showing current use sits with the authority. Council tax records and electoral roll data can both support that point.

Street level and block level tests work the same way. Where the policy counts properties in a terrace or along a frontage, the definition of the frontage matters, and an officer who has drawn the line to include a side road is making a judgement that can be challenged.

Take photographs. A site visit record showing bin presentation, curtain arrangements and letting boards is crude evidence, but inspectors find it useful where the documentary position is contested.

Challenging the authority's data

A structured challenge works better than a general complaint about accuracy. Work through the dataset property by property and produce a schedule.

1. List every property the authority counts as an HMO, with its address and the source of the classification.
2. Check each against the licensing register, planning records and any public evidence of current use.
3. Identify properties counted twice, properties outside the stated radius, and properties that have reverted to single occupation.
4. Recalculate the percentage with the corrections, showing both the authority's figure and yours.
5. Set out the denominator you have used and why.

Submit the schedule as an appendix with a short narrative in the statement. Inspectors deal with contested numbers by looking for the party who has done the work, and a schedule with sources beats an assertion that the council's figures are wrong.

Where the authority refuses to release the dataset, say so in the appeal and invite the Inspector to draw the obvious conclusion. Where committee refused against officer advice on concentration grounds, the evidential position is often weaker still, which matters for the prospects described in committee refusals against officer advice.

Amenity standards as a separate issue

Concentration and amenity are different objections, and a refusal often runs both. Deal with them separately in the statement.

Amenity covers internal space standards, the adequacy of shared kitchen and bathroom provision, refuse and recycling storage with a workable presentation point, cycle parking, and the effect of additional vehicles on on-street parking. The licensing regulations set minimum room sizes for licensable HMOs, and those are licensing minima rather than planning standards, so a local plan may ask for more.

Parking is the amenity point most often argued. Where the authority asserts parking stress, a survey carried out to a recognised methodology, with overnight counts on a weekday and a weekend outside holiday periods, is the evidence that answers it. An assertion from either side without a survey carries little weight.

Address amenity properly even if your main case is on concentration. An appeal won on the numbers and lost on bin storage is an expensive outcome.

Appeal arguments on concentration

Build the appeal around four strands, in order of strength.

The lawful use position first. If the property is already lawfully in C4 use, a change within the same class or to a small HMO may not be development at all, and an Article 4 direction only removes the permitted development right for the change itself.

Then the data, with the schedule. Then the policy wording, distinguishing an absolute threshold from a presumption and identifying the weight the document carries. Then the planning balance, covering the contribution to housing supply, the condition of the property, the standard of accommodation proposed and any management arrangements offered.

Keep expectations realistic about precedent. Other appeal decisions on concentration policies are indicative of how inspectors have approached the issue rather than binding, and their usefulness depends on how close the policy wording is, as using appeal decisions in a planning application explains.

Support it with a Planning Statement that sets out the policy framework and the corrected figures in one place, so the Inspector reads a single coherent case.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

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