HMO

[ThisOliveBiscuit]

We’ve bought a house and moved in 5 months ago , few months before we moved in a house next door went on the market and was sold to a property developer. Turns out that the area we moved to is being saturated with HMO housing which we didn’t know about before. So now house next door is being extended and turned into one of those . I feel literally sick to my stomach , can’t function, crying most of the time and don’t know what to do , we are unable to oppose this as this council has not implemented an article 4 which gives you a right to do so.
Talking about it makes me feel sick as I’ve imagined this as our home at least for the next 10 years or more , was any of you in similar situation?

Why does it matter? My daughter rents a room in an HMO and it’s lovely and they are all young professionals who can’t afford to buy or rent alone.

@doubleshift i would be more than happy if it was rented to young professionals or students that would be a dream ! Unfortunately this is not the case , hose next door for example 6 men they drink and smoke god knows what outside they generally look really rough

That suggests it falls with Permitted Development so the extensions will be limited. Does your council require hmo licences? Young professionals and students need somewhere to live, what are your concerns? Your reaction feels extreme unless there is more to it.

I thought you’d said it’s being extended and turned into one? How can it have 6 tenants already?

I live next to a 17 bed HMO, although we are not attached, so we dont have to worry about noise through the walls. They are mostly young men. The only issue we have ever had is occasional inconsiderate parking.

What are you actually worried about?

We had a HMO next door to my old house (semi detached) You’d literally never have known. It was very quiet and I rarely saw my neighbours.

They used to be called bedsits or student flats, and no one battered an eyelid.

We have an HMO next door and it isn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be - they seem to be far too busy working to make any more noise than anyone else.

The biggest issue is that they generate a fuck tonne of rubbish and their bins are always overflowing.

@Shitpeas worried about the type of people who would be living there which could be anyone : from ex convicts etc

Did you vet the people in the street beforehand? Anyone could move in anywhere! Someone could have a dodgy relative they let move in, a horrible new partner, a rowdy teenager.

@Silverbirchleaf dont mind if it’s students , young professionals but the stories I read on our local group are not fun and it looks like a lot of hoses in this town are being purposely sold and converted into hmo

But that could be true of any of your neighbours: HMO, regular rental or even owned!

It's not normal to be crying over it. Worse case scenario is you sell yours to become an HMO and move elsewhere.

@Shitpeas i understand that , generally a quite area , families . When you have 6 or 7 men living under one roof is more possibilities for that to happen , I’ve read too many stories on our local group that why we are worried

@tripleginandtonic we moved in 5 months ago , kids are in schools etc , we are considering moving but that would involve new schools and jobs

We lived next to a hmo, all male, it was fine. They had the occasional toke or drink outside but didn't affect us at all.

People are up in arms in my local Facebook groups too about this but I don’t get it. Houses rented out to multiple people aren’t new, they’re just better legislated now so have to be registered.

what are you worried about?

Is it a HMO or is it HMO supported housing?
The former are where most single people live now. Entirely normal.
Supported housing can be dodgy if the LLs are entitled to claim extra housing benefit by virtue of providing very minimal support to vulnerable people. They are less common now though as I think rules have been changed due to how exploitative they were.

Why would they be?
and why would they be men?

theyre just renters OP! Renters who can’t afford a full property of their own

I would hate it too and would find it unsettling. My dream house would be in a street with established occupiers who get to know their neighbours. The tenants of an HMO I expect would come and go and not give a fig about the neighbourhood. Sorry if that’s a generalisation.

You’re over reacting and being judgemental before even knowing the whole situation.
there’s not a whole lot you can do, so it’s best not to get so worked up until the full situation happens

I’m on the board of a supported housing provider and I’m not sure how the 2 can be described in the same sentence. Supported housing is a type of housing tenure, not related to a HMO.

Probably the same can be said for many renters?

Honestly stay off facebook local groups, they're toxic places full of moaners, gossipers, curtain twitchers and racists. Or is that judt mine?!

I’d rather have ‘ex convicts’ than students tbh!

judgey! They are just people