Sandwell Local Plan - Issues & Options Consultation
4. Other Housing Issues
There is not much evidence of an interest in self and custom-build housing in Sandwell and it may be that we do not need a specific policy relating to the matter. However, this may change, and we may wish to produce further guidance on the matter in the future. Legislation requires us to keep a register of enquiries for self-build and interested parties can visit the Council's website to register their interest[20].
The provision of plots for self and custom-build housingprojects can sometimes entail developers setting aside parcels for private individuals to purchase and develop alongside their own schemes. This can be achieved by including a policy in the local plan that requires developers to provide a percentage of plots for self-build on sites over a certain size – for example, requiring that 5% of plots on sites of over 100 dwellings be identified for self-build. The developers will provide access and services to the edge of the plots and the new plot owners will then take on the task of developing their houses.
13) Questions – Self- and Custom-Build Housing
If you do, how do you think the Council should deal with issues around self-build proposals on commercial housing sites?
- A design policy requiring self-build homes to reflect the design elements of the site on which they are located (e.g. height, scale, mass, materials, type and design of features such as doors, windows, etc.?)
- Requiring developers to allocate sections of commercial housing sites where people undertaking self-build can have a freer hand in the design of their house?
Do you think self-build should be supported in another way in Sandwell (e.g. not provided on commercial housing development sites; subject to a different policy approach)?
SAD Policy H4 refers to the needs of people with specific housing requirements, including the elderly, the physically less able, people who require supported living opportunities and people with other mental or physical issues.
The Council feels it is important to keep a revised version of the current policy and to understand how it might be used to encourage the delivery of suitable housing without causing issues around viability for developers (e.g. by referring to the standards outlined in the optional Building Regulations Requirement M4(2): Accessible and Adaptable Dwellings).
14) Questions – Specific Housing Requirements
Do you agree that the new SLP should contain a policy on housing suitable to meet the needs of people who have special needs or who require additional support?
What types of housing suitable to meet special needs do you think should be encouraged and delivered in Sandwell? E.g.
- bungalows;
- houses capable of easy adaptation for users of assistive technology such as wheelchairs;
- houses that can be easily altered as people age or their medical or physical condition changes;
- other types of dwellings.
The Council intends to incorporate the national minimum space standards for new housing as set out in the optional Building Regulations Requirement M4(2): Accessible and Adaptable Dwellings[21].
- Do you agree with this approach?
Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople have specific accommodation requirements, including the need for both temporary and permanent sites with on-site services and utilities. Travelling Showpeople also need access to large-scale storage provision for their equipment during the winter period when they are not on the road. The draft BCP included a policy intended to provide sufficient, appropriately designed and integrated sites to accommodate the needs of travelling communities over the plan period and it is our intention to revisit and adapt this policy as necessary to cover needs generated in Sandwell.
15) Question – Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople
Do you agree with the proposal to adapt the draft BCP policy on the needs of travelling communities for use in Sandwell?
Over the last few years the issue of the number and location of Houses in Multiple Occupation[22] (HMOs) in Sandwell has risen in importance. A combination of changes to permitted development rights and the need to provide affordable accommodation for people on low incomes has led to an increase in the number of HMOs and in the numbers of related planning applications being determined by Planning Committee.
HMOs provide an additional and valuable source of lower-cost accommodation for sections of the community who cannot afford to purchase their own property or who do not qualify for other forms of social housing. They also provide for the needs of students and people commuting from elsewhere to work in Sandwell.
There is a perception however that HMOs lead to increases in anti-social behaviour, increased activity, parking problems, noise nuisance and more transient occupiers leading to a weakening of community coherence. As a result, applications often result in widespread objections from the public. However, in many cases there are no planning grounds for officers to recommend refusal, resulting in Members either going against officer recommendations to refuse proposals (which in turn can lead to appeals against the decisions) or being left feeling that they have no powers to control the proposed use.
There is currently no reference to, or policy on, HMOs in either the Black Country Core Strategy or the SAD. Some national planning guidance is available, covering licensing and mandatory room sizes[23].
Having a local policy on HMOs in the SLP will allow Sandwell to produce further supplementary guidance on them. This will set out in more detail what people need to consider when developing HMOs, thereby supporting both the Council and landlords and hopefully reducing the likelihood of future planning appeals.
Other local authorities have addressed the issues around HMOs through adopting planning policies that include certain criteria against which proposals are assessed; typical examples of these include the following (from Brighton and Hove City Council's City Plan, part two of which was adopted in October 2022):
- HMO development will not be permitted where more than 10% of dwellings within a radius of 50 metres of the application site are already in HMO use; …
[new HMOs are only permitted where]:
- fewer than 20% of dwellings in the wider neighbourhood area are already in use as HMOs;
- the proposal does not result in a non-HMO dwelling being sandwiched between two existing HMOs in a continuous frontage;
- the proposal does not lead to a continuous frontage of three or more HMOs;
as well as requirements relating to internal and external space standards and facilities.
Issues around space standards, parking and other design-related aspects can be dealt with through other policies in the SLP and / or by issuing guidance on them in a supplementary document.
16) Questions – Houses in Multiple Occupation
We think that the Sandwell Plan could have a policy on HMOs that seeks to define areas where HMOs would be inappropriate / discouraged, e.g. where there are already a number of existing HMOs.
- Do you agree and if so what criteria do you think should be used to evidence why they are inappropriate?
- If you do not think a policy would be appropriate, can you explain why you think that?
- Are there any alternative options we might look to use instead of or alongside a planning policy for HMOs?
We think that the policy could look to identify aspects of HMO provision that have the potential to adversely affect the amenities of adjoining or neighbouring properties (e.g. noise, overlooking, general disturbance, or impact on visual amenity) and provide criteria to manage those issues;
- Do you agree and if so, what sort of realistic criteria should we be looking to include?
We think that the policy could introduce percentage thresholds and clustering criteria to ensure that HMOs are not concentrated in an area above a certain level and to control their numbers across a wider area;
- Do you agree and if so what evidence is needed to identify and justify these criteria?
To enable us to further control changes of use to small HMOs, the Council will need to impose an Article 4 direction, which, once adopted, will make such changes of use subject to the planning application process.
- Do you agree with this approach?
- Do you disagree? If so, can you explain why?
Do you think the Council should:
- introduce a Sandwell-wide Article 4 Direction for HMOs (requires every proposal to develop an HMO to be subject to planning permission and will involve additional time and resources to manage)?
- impose an Article 4 Direction only on those parts of Sandwell where there are already a large number of HMOs and where there is robust evidence of the sorts of issues mentioned previously?
[20] https://www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200183/land_and_property/4164/self-build_and_custom_housebuilding_act_2015
[21] This requires houses to be designed and built to meet the requirements of people with differing needs, such as older people or people with a disability, and to be capable of being adapted for use where people's physical abilities change over time.