HMO info for residents

If a developer or property owner or wants to convert a family house to an HMO in Lambeth, in the main, there is currently (As of May 2023) not a huge amount that can be done to stop it it. 

This is especially true for the smaller 6 bed HMO. The main reason for this, is there is currently no scrutiny or feedback on the amount and placement of HMO's from either the local community or Council. This is fuelled by fact that all the conversion work can normally be carried out under Permitted Development and the ability for developers to purchase relatively cheap small family houses. This is particularly common in Streatham Vale. 

In Lambeth "Article 4" is not enforced. You can read about Article 4 here. If Article 4 was enforced either borough wide (Like Croydon) or in selected wards (Like Merton) developers would be forced down the Planning Permission route. 

If this was the case residents and the community would be able to see HMO plans, comment on the planning application and even possibly make it very difficult for more family homes to be converted to HMO's.

In the meantime :-

If you become aware of a HMO operating locally, you can check to see if its licensed on the Council's website. If they don't appear to be listed you can ask HMO team directly here, as its possible the public register is out of date. Bear in mind that there are some HMO's operating illegally, which can be reported.

If you become aware of a family house being converted to an HMO or operating as an HMO, the following might be useful :-

• Check the planning applications on Lambeth's website for information.
• Check the building control applications on Lambeth's website for information.
• Check the land registry to see if you can identify who the owner is. Sadly the land registry is months behind in terms of being updated. We have heard of cases whereby solicitors have had to be involved to establish ownership.
• Try to contact the owners / developers to establish what the changes are, try to get a contact number for the person responsible for the building works if the HMO is in the build stage.
• Lambeth Planning can be contacted, but in the main they are generally reactive. However, if you were to measure an extension and it is greater than the size Permitted Development allows, you could contact them for advice / enforcement. 
• Contact all of your local councillors, they can help navigate through the process / options as they have seen this many many times.
• Think twice before involving solicitors as trying to enforce anything can be unaffordable to all but the very rich, and there is no guaranteed outcome. If possible it may be better to use a mediation service or work with the developers as best you can. Speaking to residents this can often be a costly waste of time.
• If you want to involve solicitors, check your home insurance, as this may have access to legal services who can be used. There may be costs involved, so confirm all the details.
• Record noise and disruption, there are only certain hours that construction work can be carried out in Lambeth. Sadly this is often flouted. You can see the allowed working hours and contact details here.
• Take detailed pictures of your property internally and externally including the roof including guttering, downpipes, inside the loft , garden, walls, rooms, ceiling etc. Try to do this every day construction work is happening as this may be useful to show a before and after if disputes arise. 
• As soon as possible and assuming the developers need to extend the loft you should ask the developer if they are intending to issue you with a Party Wall Agreement. You can get an overview here on the GOV UK website. It is essentially an agreement between parties regarding the shared walls of a property. As an example, for Loft conversions often large steel girders need to be placed in the loft, this requires cutting into the "Party Wall". It is a complex legal arrangement, but it would seem very commonplace for developers to ignore this, perhaps this is because you can delay the development process. It is also adds cost and time for the developer. The problem occurs when damage occurs to your property, we have heard of reports of holes in peoples lofts being made when the steel girders are being are installed. The implications of this are not clear, so it is best to consider talking to a Party Wall Surveyor for advice yourself as soon as possible. Once the work has been done, it is too late, and whilst they are in the wrong, redress might needs to be done through Surveyors / Solicitors /  Courts and the cost becomes unaffordable for most people. 
• If you do think you need to go down the legal route, check your home insurance for legal cover. Most policies now have some form of access to Solicitors as part of your cover. Bear in mind they will only act if there is a good chance of a successful outcome, they will advise you after taking some details. This route can only really be used for very specific things, such as poor workmanship affecting your property, boundary issues, trespass etc. The legal route also carries with it a time element, it could take a long time to be resolved. 
• Reach out to local residents organisations, for example Streatham Vale there is the the SVPOA. 
• Developers will sometimes need access to your property. For example to put ladders / scaffolding on neighbours property, clear land, renders the sides of their extension etc. You would think that this action is trespass. At best it is unclear if this is true, because there are laws specifically to allow access to a neighbours property for some kinds of building /  maintenance work. What is fact is that a builder / developer coming onto your property to benefit their works is likely, but at best is not a criminal act.  
• Have a defensive mindset, assume that developers will never involve you with a decision / consultation that can slow them down or there is a chance you can object to. For example by not serving you with a party wall agreement they bypass a process that could slow them down for month.