‘These houses are like chicken coops…it’s bad for people’s health’

Oldham council wants to crack down on ‘chicken coop’ HMOs after the number of shared houses has ‘almost doubled’ in the last five years.

Councillors are calling on the government to tighten regulations around HMO licensing rules after a nearly unanimous vote at the borough’s full council meeting last night (Wednesday). 

Currently, national policy means HMOs with up to five tenants don’t need to apply for a license with their local council.

But in Oldham, this has led to ‘overcrowding, pressure on local services, and a decline in housing quality’, according to councillors. 

Elaine Taylor, deputy leader of the council and portfolio holder for housing, told the chamber: “We think it should be a level playing field for all HMOs no matter their size so that all of our residents can live in good quality housing. 

“It is clear that in many cases, bad HMOs are designed to cram in as many people as physically possible into the smallest space to ensure the best financial return from that property.”

She noted that ‘good HMOS are also essential in providing short-term housing’ for young professionals and mobile workers, and often offered the most affordable rents. 

“They can be good,” Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani agreed, describing how he had lived in HMOs when starting out his career.

"“But all too often, they really are not. The whole system is just broken. 

“You see applications going in for some of these properties which are just below what any decent society should regard as a basic level for human rights: no windows, not enough space, just unacceptable standards. It is desperate.” 

And Labour councillor Peter Davis compared some HMOs to ‘chicken coops’ that are ‘bad for people’s health long-term’.

While other boroughs have voted to introduce an Article 4 direction, which gives local authorities direct power to weigh in on new HMOs, Oldham is ‘just below the threshold’ for introduction, according to coun Taylor. 

Instead, the council will write to its local MPs and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to lobby the government for a change of the national rules. 

The vote came just days after a protest was held in Shaw against what residents described as ‘a flood of HMOs’ into their town.

Locals argued that community spaces and businesses in the area are being transformed into ‘low quality shared housing for profit’ at the expense of long-term residents. 

A huge 22-bed HMO in a former health centre in the town centre was recently rejected after it was found to be ‘below acceptable living standards’.

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