Landlord pleads with council to consider HMO tenants as housing shortages bite

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An HMO landlord says desperate new tenants are moving in hours after the previous tenants leave due to a dearth of available properties.

In her planning application, the landlord tells Arun district councillors that she is witnessing a chronic shortage of rooms available to workers on low income in Bognor Regis. The problem is so bad that she and fellow landlords are regularly unable to satisfy demand.

Daily enquiries

“We are receiving daily enquiries of people who say they are desperately looking for rooms because their landlords are selling,” the landlord explains. “Our existing tenants are also staying put presumably because they can’t find anywhere else.”

She tells councillors that her tenants are key workers working in care homes, hospitals, food production and distribution, shops and farms who are paid minimum wage or on a zero hours contract and unable to afford conventional tenancies even though they work very hard.

Attract staff

Problems with cars clogging up residential streets don’t apply, she explains. “Our HMO tenants rarely have cars as they generally can’t afford them and therefore need to live close to amenities.

“There are a lot of businesses and farms who depend on these people within our local area and HMO accommodation availability is also essential for these businesses to attract and house their staff.”

A professional HMO landlord since 2005, her property in Ockley Road has been used as an HMO since 2007 and needs a lawful development certificate for the existing use. She adds that the financial situation has led many landlords to leave the private rental sector and sell their properties and these are not being replaced.

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