ECOTEC Report - Housing in Multiple Occupation and possible planning responses

This report has been prepared by ECOTEC Research & Consulting Limited on behalf of Communities and Local Government.

The report provides the outcome of an evidence gathering exercise which was undertaken to review the problems caused by high concentrations of houses in multiple occupation. This has been highlighted as a problem in a number of towns and cities across the country.

The purpose of the evidence gathering exercise was to:

• identify good practice in areas that manage to cope relatively well with high concentrations of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) (particularly those occupied by students who tend to be transient, thus potentially causing problems around community cohesion and survival of community facilities)
  
  
• test whether these ideas could have a wider application in those areas that are having more difficulty with such issues and
  
  
• determine whether (and if so what) planning policy is a suitable lever to tackle these problems.