Agenda item

Report of the Director of City Services and Commercial

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of City Services and Commercial on the Homes in Multiple Occupation Development Plan Document Adoption.  The report would also be considered at the meeting of Council on 25 March 2025.

Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) can provide important accommodation for a range of people including those entering the housing market. However, they can also bring significant disruption to settled neighbourhoods. In order to ensure that HMOs can only come forward in ways that integrate with existing neighbourhoods a Development Plan Document (DPD) has been prepared. As background, the DPD and accompanying Sustainability Scoping/Appraisal were consulted upon between 20 September and 15 November 2022 at the Regulation 18 stage and between 27 March and 15 May 2023 at the Regulation 19 stage. These consultations were undertaken in the formulation of the DPD which was then submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in September 2023, with hearings held January 2024 and subsequent Main Modifications consultation held between 10 June and 22 July 2024.

The report provided an update on the Main Modifications consultation and the published Inspector’s Report, in which the Inspector concluded, through independent Examination, that the HMO DPD was ‘sound’ and had been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements subject to her recommendations (main modifications). The report therefore sought agreement to adopt the Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) Development Plan Document (DPD). If adopted, it would become part of the Development Plan for the city.

RESOLVED that Cabinet recommend that Council:

1.  Notes the Inspector’s Report on the Examination of the Homes in Multiple Occupation Development Plan Document (Appendix 1), and specifically that she has concluded that subject to her main modifications, the Plan meets the tests of soundness and has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and thus is ‘capable of adoption’.

2.  Adopts the Homes in Multiple Occupation Development Plan Document (Appendix 2), in accordance with Section 23 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 which will be the Plan submitted on 25 August 2023 as amended by the schedule of Main Modifications (Appendix 3) and Additional Modifications (Appendix 4).

3.  Notes that the Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix 5), Sustainability Appraisal report (Appendix 6), Sustainability Appraisal Adoption Statement (Appendix 7) and draft Adoption Statement (Appendix 8) will be published as soon as reasonably practicable after 25 March 2025 in accordance with Regulations 17 and 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

4.  Delegates authority to the Strategic Lead – Planning, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, to make further minor modifications to the Plan prior to final publication, where these modifications are confined to the correction of typographical errors, amendments to policy or paragraph reference numbers and consequential cross referencing, where appropriate.