Houses of multiple occupancy are ruining the city, a Dundee councillor has claimed as a review is ordered to look into the matter.
The council’s licensing committee approved nine new applications but Lochee councillor Tom Ferguson hit out at an ‘overprovision’ which he said was impacting on the local communities.
Largely owned by letting agents and landlords and rented out to three or more unrelated people, HMOs include hostels, student residences, bedsits and shared flats.
Considering an application for 8 Daniel Place, in an area with 16 HMOs already, Mr Ferguson said: “More and more HMOs in an area are destroying the city.
“This area must be protected from people buying up areas where people want to live with their families and people want to own their own properties.”
Jack Reavley of applicants Easylets Ltd pointed out that the property was surrounded on all sides by existing HMOs and is essentially an HMO area and theapplication was approved.
Mr Ferguson added that while he did appreciate the contribution HMOs provide to Dundee’s accommodation needs, the council is currently breaching its own policy for how many can be granted in particular areas.
He said: “Now anyone who comes in asking for more HMOs in the West End will be asked forensically why they want to do so and why it is in the interests of the community.
“We have in the past been providing an overprovision in some areas that is breaching our own rules. People have just horsed them in and carried on.
“At some stage someone will have to take this on and I am happy to take it on.”
Committee convener Stewart Hunter said he shared some of Mr Ferguson’s concerns about overprovision in some areas.
He said: “Councillor Ferguson’s point is a good one and I share his concerns that some areas need protecting.”
The committee agreed to carry out a review of the council’s HMO policy which has been scheduled to take place at the committee’s February meeting.
Mr Hunter said: “We currently have a policy where different areas of the city are zoned and we can only have so many HMOs in some areas.
“We are getting a lot of overprovision so we need to have a review of the policy to protect people living in these areas.”
He said the review would look at whether the policy, which came into place in 2008, has been working effectively and if not what can be done to improve the situation.