Not entirely unexpected news, but Northampton BC has this week announced that the Far Cotton and Delapre areas will soon be included in the Article 4 area. This means it will no longer be possible to create a new HMO in those areas without planning permission.It's slightly bizarre that these locations weren't included from day 1 - as these are the closest areas to the new university campus and precisely the places where there was likely to be the greatest HMO demand. Investors have been buying here in their droves for a couple of years so there's an argument that this is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Irrespective it will probably help to cool a local market that has overheated - prices in Far Cotton in particular have been getting silly of late.
And for investors who own already, this arguably isn't a bad thing. Yes, a license may be required, but the requirements are fairly basic and sensible owners who have converted to HMO already will have done much of the work that's required. All this change will do is pick up those owners who have converted without paying attention to things like fire safety - which arguably isn't a bad thing anyway.
Further information here http://www.northampton.gov.uk/news/article/2518/northampton-borough-council-proposes-measures-to-manage-hmos - this was passed at the planning meeting, so it's no longer 'proposed'.
