Minutes:
(Mr. S. Kendall, Department of the Environment, Planning Service attended in connection with this item.)
The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 16th February, it had agreed that a request would be made to officials from the Planning Service inviting them to attend a future meeting to update Members on the progress achieved to date in respect of the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Subject Plan. Accordingly, it was reported that Mr. S. Kendall from the Department of the Environment’s Planning Service was in attendance and he was welcomed to the meeting by the Chairman.
Mr. Kendall reminded the Committee that the HMO Subject Plan had been prepared by the Planning Service, in conjunction with an Inter-Agency Strategic Group which had been established by the Council with input from a range of representatives of its services such as Environmental Health, Cleansing, Pollution Control, Building Control and Waste Management, as well as external agencies which included the Police Service for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Office, the Community Safety Unit and the Universities. The purpose of the Subject Plan was to inform the general public, statutory authorities, developers and other interested bodies of the policy framework that would be used to guide planning decisions in relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation within the Council area.
Mr. Kendall pointed out that, since the Draft HMO Plan for Belfast had been published in 2006, two hundred and eighty-seven applications had been referred to the HMO Team, the majority of which (two hundred and sixty two) had been within the Botanic, Holylands and Rugby designated HMO Policy Area. He reminded Members that the HMO Strategy had been developed to protect the amenity, to accommodate need, to focus on regeneration and to promote purpose built accommodation to meet the needs of student housing requirements. He added that the HMO Subject Plan aimed to adopt a balanced approach to HMO development by seeking to influence positively and shape the market for HMOs while controlling and curtailing further development in areas where such accommodation was concentrated currently.
Mr. Kendall referred to the document entitled “Belfast: A Learning City - Holyland and Wider University Area Strategic Study” which had been published by the Council in March and suggested that the proposals therein would enable the issue of HMOs to be managed positively within a multi-agency approach. He outlined the principal aspects of the Plan which sought to:
· identify appropriate housing opportunities;
· provide policy advice on the conversion of existing premises;
· develop a student housing accreditation scheme;
· promote housing regeneration;
· encourage neighbourhood management initiatives;
· integrate transport;
· provide public realm environmental improvements; and
· improve safety within an area.
Mr. Kendall informed the Committee that an HMO monitor was currently in operation which provided an annual update to the Inter-Agency Group. The monitor had identified a significant reduction in HMO related applications, with fourteen approvals having been granted within the last six years.
Mr. Kendall then answered a number of questions put by Members in relation to the need for consideration of housing to accommodate those students who would be attending the University of Ulster’s new York Street campus and the necessity for greater accountability to be levied upon landlords in relation to the maintenance and upkeep of HMOs to encourage a higher standard of cleanliness and to reduce any adverse environmental impact.
The Chairman thanked Mr. Kendall for his presentation and he then left the meeting.
Noted.