Housing Minister Grant Shapps has stepped up to keep an election promise by announcing a revamp of house in multiple occupation (HMO) planning and licensing rules.

Since April 6, property investors wanting to switch a property to an HMO have had to submit a planning application to the local council.

This was expected to generate about 8,500 planning applications a year that would strain budgets for property investors and councils – with each application costing about £300 to submit and taking up hours of officer’s time to review.

Now, Mr Shapps has scrapped the mandatory need for a planning application while giving some councils the freedom to choose whether to implement planning restrictions if they wish.

The net result is councils with perceived HMO problems can ask property investors to submit planning applications for new HMOs while other councils that do not have shared housing issues can deregulate the planning process.

“Councils know about local issues with shared homes, and don’t need top-down rules from Whitehall to deal with problems that don’t exist. Where too many shared homes are causing problems for other residents or changing the character of a neighbourhood, councils should be able to control their spread. But I’m not going to create unnecessary costs for landlords, which puts the supply of rented homes at risk,” said Mr Shapps.

“That’s why I’m giving councils the power to decide whether to use the planning system to control the spread of shared housing where it is a problem.  This will give them the flexibility to make decisions that are right for their communities, rather than stifling the rental market with unnecessary costs and red tape.

“Shared homes ensure people who want to live and work in towns and cities can do so, and are vital to the economy. These changes will safeguard the supply of shared housing where it is needed without burdening landlords with cumbersome red tape – but will also hand councils the flexibility they need to tackle problems where they occur.”