Within Great Ashby is a growing concern that houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) for occupants up to 6 people, which do not require any planning permission. If the HMO dwelling is to have more than six occupants, then planning permission is required.
However, a significant increase number of HMOs, in both Stevenage Borough Council (SBC) and North Herts District Council (NHDC) areas of Great Ashby are cited to cause unsustainable pressure on parking and where there are high concentrations of HMOs in an area will have a highly undesirable destabilising effect on that area’s community, since there is no sense of ownership.
The current legislation allows a Planning Authority to invoke something known as Article 4 Direction (A4D) and if invoked all new applications for HMOs would require planning permission.
Great Ashby community Council (GACC) in December undertook to discuss the issues presented by the increasing number of houses with multiple occupation, it welcomed the Chells Manor group that are campaigning for SBC to invoke A4D. SBC have agreed to undertake a study of the application of A4D for certain areas of Stevenage, including Great Ashby. Should they decide that A4D will be applied to SBC Great Ashby that would leave the NHDC, which is the majority of Great Ashby, with an increased issue of developers converting even more houses into HMOs.
The, GACC stated that it wishes to encourage, via our District Councillors, for NHDC to work with Stevenage Borough Council in their study and work towards the whole of Great Ashby being a A4D area.
I would welcome your views.
Cllr Terry Tyler
Chair of North Herts District Council & Chesfield Ward Councillor- Listening, evaluating, acting and solving issues.
I’m suffering because of neighbour (HMO) fire doors noise and recently, loud music playing.
My treatment from Stevenage Borough Council’s Environmental Health Department & the Local Government Ombudsman has been unfair, unjust and appalling regarding my complaint and the investigations that followed. Moreover, I feel they have violated my human and civil rights.
I’m a 70-year-old male and been fighting with neighbour HMO property owner/Stevenage Borough Council & the Local Government Ombudsman for Justice and my (basic) human rights since November 2015.
It is regarding (5) heavy hydraulic-spring fire doors and (1) extra main entrance/door fitted in a prefabricated, sub-standard 3-bedroom house built in 1960 that I believe is not suitable for HMO/heavy fire doors. Two of these doors – (1 fire door and the extra main entrance/door) fitted only 1 meter away from the very thin party wall that divides us. The council’s Environmental Health officer did a biased, covered up, flawed investigation of the fire doors noise. Because I knew the outcome and decision of the investigation were biased/flawed (in favour of the HMO property owner), I then escalated my complaint to council’s stages 1, 2 & 3 investigations, where officer’s manager supported the officer… There are more of my story and account of what happened next that I’m sure you will find shocking!