Multiple-occupancy homes in Eastbourne “out of control” council meeting to be told
A meeting this week (Weds) will be asked to radically improve the governance and inspection of homes of multiple occupation (HMOs) in Eastbourne.
At the borough’s full council meeting, Conservative group leader, Robert Smart, will press for an independent report into the matter to be made public.
A consultant’s report reveals that the number of such properties licensed in Eastbourne has risen by 70 per cent since 2015, from 188 to 318. On top of which there are also many unlicensed properties housing five occupants or less.
A draft study was released in June last year (2023) and now Cllr Smart says it’s time to see the final documents, specifically to discuss its conclusions and possible intervention options to deal with this issue.
A dramatic rise in the number of premises in Eastbourne used as houses of multiple occupation is leading to anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping and making it harder to build communities. That was the view of the town’s Scrutiny Committee as long ago as July 2022.
It also “felt that all HMOs should be run to an agreed standard and held to account where those standards failed”.
“The Borough Council has allowed HMOs to proliferate and re-licensing has been nodded through without reference to councillors through the democratic process of a planning committee”, says Cllr Smart. “In one case this was despite the fact that I had, on two occasions, specifically asked the borough’s Head of Planning to call in the application in for close scrutiny.”
Conservative councillors on the Scrutiny Committee have been seeking greater control and enforcement of the town’s HMOs for several years.
“Like the council's spiralling debt, this is another area which appears to be out of control,” says Councillor Smart.
The problem is widespread and Cllr Nigel Goodyear has witnessed the growth of HMOs in Devonshire West.
“As a long-time trustee of both Leaf Hall and Eastbourne Blind Society I know how concerned local residents are at the seemingly uncontrolled and unregulated rise in HMO numbers and the problems they can cause to the local community”, he says.
Conservatives have called for the council to use all powers regulating HMOs especially new powers under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act secured by the town’s MP, Caroline Ansell.
