Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Flouting or ignoring planning planning use - council ignoring it
We've got 3 dwellings (out of 17) in our street that fall foul of their planning use - i.e subdivided into slum bedsits (2) and used as a business premises (1).
The council have not acted despite years of letters and complaints by residents. This antagonises the residents and puts the poor people who sublet these illegal bedsits at considerable personal risk: poor gas safely, fire-safety etc. And the council will be missing out on substantial amounts of council tax.
What should we do? Has anyone else experience of this failure of the council to enforce its own rules?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Claudia Clare on
-
I have one of these each side of me. One is, I think, multiple occupancy, now occupied by a council tenant, a single family but with more people than the council realise. It was MO until last year. It's owned by a slum landlord and is in atrocious condition, running with rats and roaches. The tenant withheld rent to get the landlord to take some action over a leaking pipe and the council threatened to evict her. The other side is in even worse condition and the tenants have recently left. The landlord is improving the place, but I dont know to what standard. This happened before, about four years ago. Landlord should have improved the property but didn't. Those tenants were also council tenants. So, in answer to your question, yes to experience and no to result. Council seems to be completely supine where slum landlords are concerned. The only thing I can think of is a highly organised and very visible campaign of a council-tax strike, where we all withhold an agreed proportion of tax and put in an account so it's immediately available once the council has taken action. Requires extensive organisation and probably complicated but it's the only idea I've had so far...Sorry cant be more helpful.
-
Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
-
Some of the rules are the Council's - for example no-conversion areas. But most of the rules applying to conversions, sub-division of houses etc, are governed by national English planning legislation. That includes owners' - circumscribed - rights to make some changes in their own properties. Rights can also be established by long usage, so at some point - given the provision of factual evidence by an owner - if they've inadvertently failed to comply with planning rules they may be able to get a Certificate of Lawful Use. As you can also imagine some unscrupulous developers take full advantage of this loophole - including submission of forged evidence.
Using the search box on HoL, you'll find a number of discussion threads on various aspects of these problems.
Haringey and many other councils have initiatives underway about Homes in Multiple Occupation. For example, at a conference in November last year, we heard about some successful work in Newham. You may want to ask Haringey for a copy of the report of that conference.
Depending on where you live you may find one or more of your ward councillors informed and aware about these issues. Or you might be out of luck. In any case, the "cabinet" councillor leading on this is Nilgun Canver. Her email: nilgun.canver@haringey.gov.uk
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
-
-
I don't know where you live, Neil. So I've no idea what action has been taken to tackle the problems you describe. And whereof I cannot speak, thereof I must be silent.
However, I do know about similar sounding problems in areas I've been involved with. And there are at least some approaches/partial solutions which may be worth trying. Presumably you have contacted your ward councillors and the Safer Neighbourhood Police team? What did they say?
-
Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on
-
The problem of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and family houses being carved up into flats and bedsits has been a problem for many years particularly in Harringay ward where we have more than our fair proportion.
Harringay ward has been a non-conversion area for many years which means that houses are not supposed to be divided up – unfortunately this doesn’t stop unscrupulous developers doing it. The planning laws don’t help at all and the council seems unable to step in until the conversion is practically finished, all to do with intent – a long battle then ensues the result of which may be that the property is ordered to be returned to its original form (or not) but it is something my colleagues and I have been battling with in this ward since our election in 2006.
The problems of HMOs was such a issue that a working group was set up and the result of that is an additional licensing scheme in Harringay ward to try and deal with the problem. It is described in more detail on the Haringey Council website but to get a flavour, “The area affected covers the whole of the Harringay Ward, together with the neighbouring north side of Turnpike Lane, plus the neighbouring east side of Green Lanes, together with all of Salisbury Road in the St Ann’s Ward.
The scheme came into force on 1 October 2011 and unless revoked beforehand or extended will cease to have effect on 30th September 2016.
A person having control of or managing a prescribed HMO in the designated area must apply to London Borough of Haringey for a licence”
The problem of illegally divided houses continues to be a problem – the best course of action open to us is vigilance – it is impossible for Cllr Schmitz (my ward colleague) and I to be aware of all the building work going on in the ward so we are very grateful when residents come to us with details of houses which look like they are being converted without permission. Do keep letting us know and we will continue to put pressure on the council for them to act. To that end and to get an update on the current situation I will be submitting the following question for the next Full Council meeting to the Cabinet Member for Housing Services: How many properties in Harringay ward is the Council currently aware are breaching planning consent (e.g. used as multiple occupancy with single dwelling use) and how many complaints have been received in the past year from residents over such breaches? I’ll keep you posted with the response.
In addition to the additional licensing powers there are some other tools such as Article 4 which we are pressing the council to consider using to restrict such development here in Harringay. As a brief explanation Houses in Multiple Occupation - Article 4 Direction:
- The basis for councils to make local decisions to change planning rules within a defined area is provided by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 as amended, (GPDO).
- The GPDO enables councils to issue a direction under article 4 of that Order, commonly referred to as an "article 4 direction", setting out development type(s) that will no longer be permitted unless express planning permission is first obtained.
- Article 4 directions are introduced where evidence suggests that undertaking certain types of development for which express planning permission is not normally required would harm local amenity or the proper planning of an area, for example, by having an undermining effect on visual amenity and / or local objectives to create or maintain mixed communities.
- An article 4 direction does not prevent the development to which it applies, but instead requires that planning permission is first obtained from the Council for that development.
-
Permalink Reply by John D on
-
All very well, Karen, but the question you should be asking the Member for Housing Services is not how many properties are breaching planning consent and how many complaints have been received but, instead, why is ( apparently ) no effective action taken on these breaches and on these complaints ?
-
-
Don't worry, it goes without saying that I'll be asking that as well but we need to know what the current situation is then we can plan how to tackle it.
-
-
I'm just wondering, Karen, which colleagues you were referring to when you wrote: "something my colleagues and I have been battling with in this ward since our election in 2006".
Then as you think the planning laws "don’t help at all", could you tell us your own view on whether the legislative changes introduced since the General Election offer more or less help? Have you taken any steps to try get the Coalition Government to reform these laws - for example, have you had a chat with Lynne about it?
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
-
-
You know very well Alan that Cllr Gina Adamou has been hugely involved in this and the reference to colleagues included her (if thats what you are worried about - not a case of me bigging up the libdem cllrs)- so a good example of local cllrs working together to improve things for their residents rather than battling against each other and point-scoring! Things are far from perfect - thats clear from this thread but these problems were here a long before this coalition government. Our residents elected us to try and resolve problems and I will continue to work with collegues (on both sides) to find a solution. The planning laws are complicated and interpretation is often difficult - I don't think it serves any purpose at this point to set out my views on a subject on which I am no expert.
-
Permalink Reply by Susan Penny on
-
we tried to get Article 4 in conservation areas in Tottenham but there was no chance apart from the 2 which have it already. As so many alterations which detract from the character of the area had been allowed to happen the Council is not prepared to stop new ones happening.
-
-
That's just a nasty crack, Mr Will Hoyle (Billy Hole). As well as inaccurate.
Many people have worked hard to safeguard and maintain attractive buildings in Tottenham and elsewhere. Of course, people won't agree about everything.
Tottenham Civic Society have an excellent record in this. But they are effective partly because they are prepared to work with other people - including councillors and officers - who share the same aims.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
