Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Coming Soon to a House Near You?
I have been made aware that the Ladder appears to be in the midst of something of an renewed onslaught by developers who are turning houses into multiple occupation properties.
What's the Problem?
All local communities, as communities, want to be sustainable. A key factor in a population’s ability to be sustainable is its willingness and ability to sustain that community. This means a longer-term commitment to an area. HMOs are usually associated with transience. Transient populations are far less likely to have regard to the longer term well-being of an area.
There are also more immediate effects usually experienced by residents live around HMOs. Many of the HMOs in Harringay are established without planning permission and licensing. This often means poor conditions. This in itself is undesirable. In some instances it also means that houses become occupied with groups of people who are far from model neighbours.
An HMO in Warham Road recently hit the headlines when its owner was in court facing charges of running a brothel with women kept as prostitutes against their will. Another HMO became a hangout for local and West End pickpockets. Not every HMO will suffer this fate, but enough do for residents to become uncomfortable.
What's the Solution?
The LCSP are working against the situation. In July last year they produced a blueprint for the council to tackle the issue. However on the ground there are constraints arising from the law and the willingness or ability of Haringey Council to impose and enforce action.
What can you Do?
You should stay aware of what's happening in your street. Sudden intense building activity, sometimes preceded by apparently innocuous planning applications can mean conversion work is going on. This can be reported to Haringey's Planning Enforcement Department at 0208 489 5123/8236. You may well need to keep on top of a case once reported.
What's the Problem?
All local communities, as communities, want to be sustainable. A key factor in a population’s ability to be sustainable is its willingness and ability to sustain that community. This means a longer-term commitment to an area. HMOs are usually associated with transience. Transient populations are far less likely to have regard to the longer term well-being of an area.
There are also more immediate effects usually experienced by residents live around HMOs. Many of the HMOs in Harringay are established without planning permission and licensing. This often means poor conditions. This in itself is undesirable. In some instances it also means that houses become occupied with groups of people who are far from model neighbours.
An HMO in Warham Road recently hit the headlines when its owner was in court facing charges of running a brothel with women kept as prostitutes against their will. Another HMO became a hangout for local and West End pickpockets. Not every HMO will suffer this fate, but enough do for residents to become uncomfortable.
What's the Solution?
The LCSP are working against the situation. In July last year they produced a blueprint for the council to tackle the issue. However on the ground there are constraints arising from the law and the willingness or ability of Haringey Council to impose and enforce action.
What can you Do?
You should stay aware of what's happening in your street. Sudden intense building activity, sometimes preceded by apparently innocuous planning applications can mean conversion work is going on. This can be reported to Haringey's Planning Enforcement Department at 0208 489 5123/8236. You may well need to keep on top of a case once reported.
Tags for Forum Posts: Wightman Road, hmos, housing, ladder, planning
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I have also written to the LCSP to ask if they will be willing to support residents with any action and I will post their response.
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One of the LCSP members has kindly passed me the paper they wrote last year on HMOs which I am attaching to this post.
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HMO_WF1.doc, 28 KB
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Permalink Reply by Anette on
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The depressing thing here is that landlords go ahead and convert anyway, and if they're not discovered in the first 4 years, there's absolutely nothing the council or anyone else can do about it. I have the HMO from hell near me, and have been kicking up a stink for years. I am still in the process of getting this sorted out.
Another thing to be aware of is that landlords can have tenants from several different boroughs, which makes it even harder to deal with. This is if the tenants are placed by the council, which is the problem I am facing.
I can only join Hugh in this: If you see building works that looks like it could be a conversion in the making - call the council.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Further to Anette's point, you will probably need to ring the council every couple of weeks in order to check on how the process is going and report non compliance with their enforcement orders. It may be an idea to ask the local councillor to get involved as they will also ring and keep on a case for you.
However, problem houses are now running into hundreds of cases so it might be the case that some sort of pressure group needs to be formed to join individuals up and help them as well as to lobby such groups as the Green Lanes Strategy group, and others. The local MP should also be involved as, due to this government's legislation, councils often lose cases on appeal from the developers at a cost to all of us.
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Permalink Reply by TTTH on
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It's really interesting that you mention this. The freeholder of next door has built an out house and I reported to that very dept. I spoke to the same Australian planner (Andrew?) a number of times at Haringey Council over the last year and he repeated the same report time each time. I get the feeling that they are not very proactive or even that strict. He will probably get retospective planning at this stage, it's gone on so long and I don't have time to constantly ring up about it.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Out houses and over sized sheds are all the rage it appears if one looks along the back of terraces. All manner of uses seem to be driving their construction;
*granny sheds
*bike/tool sheds
*hobby/art space sheds
*work at home sheds
*home-late-from-pub sheds
*kicked-out-for-snoring sheds
In Australia sheds in more remote locations will have a dunny installed. The planner may not see the problem you've raised in an urgent light.
Gardens used to have a tree at the end for birds and other wildlife to gather. No longer.
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Matt when I was house hunting, you would not believe the array of bizarre house extensions that I was shown!
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From what I gleaned from the chap I've been talking to, they are overwhelmed by the number of illegal conversions they are dealing with and, I'm guessing, out houses etc are not such a priority. Nevertheless, the local councillors(Karen.Alexander2@haringey.gov.uk) are very helpful at phoning and getting on to the department. I also have been told that a working group involving local councillors and residents groups has been set up to look at HMOs although I know no more about it than that at this stage.
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It is true that planning departments under staffed, over worked & under paid. I believe they have even been recently classed as 'key workers' for housing help, things are so bad.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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You know, if we thought like rich people, we would get a lawyer and sue them. Not having enough people to do the job is not an excuse. Once they are sued they will find the people.
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By sue, I assume you refer to the council. That merely takes away their financial resources in the form of a fine if you happen to win. That's plain daft and a very American approach where lawyers are king. No, the govt has to ring fence resources to councils to bolster the needs of planning within boroughs such as ours.
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The council do not, however, appear that interested in tackling this problem, evidenced by their lack of support for Enforcement in the form of more money and people. This is adding to the sense of helplessness residents who do get involved feel when trying to deal with an illegal conversion which often causes them to give up.
There needs to be serious joined up action here. Promotion of awareness over this issue, street by street co ordination to monitor and help people with their cases involving local councillors and residents groups and lobbying of the council for more enforcement. That's just for starters...
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