8:00am Sunday 7th February 2010
By Elizabeth Pears
HARINGEY Council has welcomed the Government's new planning guidelines to curb the rise in illegal bedsits.
The amendment to the Town and County Planning Order means landlords wanting to turn a property from a single household dwelling into multiple flats, dubbed Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO), must have planning permission.
It also includes a definition of what actually constitutes a HMO.
Councillor Nilgun Canver, cabinet member for enforcement and safer communities, welcomed the news.
Cllr Canver (Lab/St Ann's) said: "I am very happy about this, it is something have written to the Government about and that I have wanted to see for some time. It is very hard to regulate HMOs if you don't know where they are located or when a private dwelling has been converted.
"Now we will be able to assess the impact on an area of a property being converted into an HMO, as they can affect such things as parking, refuse collections, anti-social behaviour etc.
"We must look carefully at this to see what it will mean to Haringey and those residents who have concerns about clusters of HMOs in their areas."
The change will come into force on April 6, 2010.
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