Issue - meetings

This report recommends the removal of the HMO permit and moving all HMO properties to household permits.

Resolved:  To approve Option C, which is to remove the HMO Permit completely from the available permits. This would require all HMO permit holders moving to household permits with the inflationary cost for second and third permits, all properties would be restricted to three permits.

Reason:     This removes confusion for the applicant and customer service officers, who advise on permits in respect of HMO types.  Although there may be some changes due to capacity, these should not be large.

The Traffic Management Team Leader presented; he explained that a change in legislation had meant that more properties were now recognised as Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs); residents of which were entitled to purchase specific permits from the Council allowing them to park in designated bays, and this potentially meant inequality between residents of a property classified HMO and residents of otherwise similar residential housing.

Officers recommended proceeding to consultation over a change of parking permits, in order that all residents would receive a “household” one, and “HMO” parking permits would be phased out. This would ultimately lead to increased fees for HMO residents, and officers proposed to have present HMO permits run their full course as opposed to terminating permits early and starting new permits immediately.

The Executive Member requested and received clarification that there would be a grace period. She remarked that while there was no easy and obvious solution to this issue, the current system was not equitable, and while the proposed system also had challenges, it was more equitable for all residents on a street.

Resolved:  To approve Option C, which is to remove the HMO Permit completely from the available permits. This would require all HMO permit holders moving to household permits with the inflationary cost for second and third permits, all properties would be restricted to three permits.

Reason:     This removes confusion for the applicant and customer service officers, who advise on permits in respect of HMO types.  Although there may be some changes due to capacity, these should not be large.