Calls for tighter HMO controls over waste problems

Bin drivers reportedly find it difficult to negotiate Blenheim Road in east Reading

A council is facing calls to implement tighter controls on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) because of concerns about rubbish and recycling.

Thousands of houses in Reading have been converted from family homes into HMOs, which are sought by students and working professionals.

But confusion about bin collection days and what can be recycled has led to waste collections and mismanagement issues.

HMOs are controlled by a national licensing scheme, but currently the licences only apply to properties with five or more people living there.

Now a call has been made to introduce discretionary HMO licence schemes at a Reading Borough Council meeting.

Under the current HMO licensing scheme, landlords must ensure the homes are not overcrowded and there are suitable shared amenities for tenants to use, provide a yearly gas safety certificate and maintain smoke alarms.

Doctor Sunila Lobo said other towns had successfully used HMO licencing to improve neighbourhoods

Dr Sunila Lobo, the Labour candidate for the Redlands in east Reading, said the ward had a high number of HMOs as well as "some of the town’s highest levels of hazardous properties, anti-social behaviour, and rubbish and recycling issues".

As most of them are terraced properties with up to four occupants, she said, they "do not currently require a licence".

She said other towns such as Oxford and Bristol have successfully used HMO licencing to improve the properties, protect tenants, and "improve the condition of neighbourhoods", and asked the council to introduce a licensing scheme for all HMOs in the area.

In response, council leader Jason Brock said council officers were investigating the possibility.

"The aim of the schemes proposed is to drive change and provide better homes for our residents, which national evidence shows has positive impacts for health and for families, better educational outcomes," he said.

A discretionary HMO licence scheme would have to be approved by the council’s Housing, Neighbourhoods & Leisure Committee.