Rachel Hopkins

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) for securing this important debate on HMOs. Concerns around access to safe, good-quality and genuinely affordable housing have consistently been raised with me throughout my time representing my constituency. It is the No. 1 casework issue in my inbox. As a consequence of rising demand for affordable housing, alongside a cost of living crisis and regulatory changes, it is more profitable for landlords to operate houses in multiple occupation, and we have seen a year-on-year increase of HMOs in many regions across the country. As we have heard from many other Members today, HMOs present difficult issues for tenants and wider communities if they are not properly licensed or managed. For some tenants, that may mean substandard housing facilities, without adequate access to toilet, bathroom or cooking facilities, or appropriate fire safety precautions. There is also the wider community impact: parking shortages, increasing levels of rubbish due to poor waste disposal and, sadly, the demise of family homes, just when the demand for good-quality family homes is rising. Many of these issues go under the radar of local authorities if they are not reported, although many authorities recognise these issues and have taken action under article 4 directions, which relate to the removal of permitted development rights for HMOs and require planning permission to be sought. These can be targeted, but they are often challenged by landlords. Can the Minister provide an update on how the Government might be able to support councils to invoke article 4 directions despite challenges, so that they can effectively monitor and manage the number of HMOs in their areas? Is there any further update on how to tackle unlicensed HMOs, ensuring that tenants are not being taken advantage of?