Government plan creates 'no-go areas' for landlords

News Category: Legal

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The government's plan to make landlords apply for planning permission to turn a family home into shared accommodation will create no-go areas for landlords, according to a representative body.

Housing minister John Healey announced that from April 2010 landlords who want to convert existing family homes into Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) will have to apply for planning permission from their local council.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) said the government was ignoring the benefits HMOs brought by having mixed communities.

NLA chairman David Salusbury said: "What we have before us is draconian and is quite simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The government has bowed to a small minority who shouted the loudest."

Mr Salusbury added that the plans contradict the government’s stated aim of maintaining a vibrant rental market and no-go areas for landlords would be created as a result.

The plans would do nothing to give tenants more choice of where to live or to improve housing, he concluded.

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