Councillors are “effectively powerless” to control the increasing number of HMOs popping up across the borough, with no fewer than 38 in Portadown — 14 of them in the same street!
That was the claim as figures for the borough were presented and red-flagged at this week’s ABC Council planning committee, with Councillor Kyle Moutray demanding answers.
And, at Wednesday’s sitting, as the DUP councillor raised his concerns, a quick inspection of planning papers indicated that a further three applications had been approved in Portadown within the past week.
Two were for the change of use of residential properties — at 2 Goban Street and 98 Church Street — to create HMOs.
The third, also given the go-ahead, was for a change of use of an office building at 62 Church Street into an eight-bedroom HMO.
Councillor Moutray seized upon the chance to ask questions off the back of a letter from Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, which had been sent to the chief executives of all 11 Northern Ireland councils.
The letter had been tabled with documents for the planning committee and for the environment meeting the previous night, where it had simply been marked “noted”.
Minister Lyons had urged environmental health officers to “remain vigilant to the potential for properties to be operating as unlicensed HMOs” and to report these.
Other issues — such as “overcrowding or substandard management arrangements” — should also be reported “as soon as possible”.
Minister Lyons wrote: “In recent months there has been an increased focus on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), and some have expressed concerns about concentrations of this type of accommodation in certain areas.
“I am also aware that there have been reports of overcrowding and suspicions about the operation of unlicensed HMOs.
“Firstly, I want to remind you that it is within the remit of each council to set policies regarding HMO provision. Councils can also set restrictions on the number or percentage of HMOs in certain areas in order to avoid an over-concentration in residential areas and protect the character and amenities of existing areas. I would ask that your council consider this matter promptly, if such a policy requires updating or is not in place.
“Secondly, I want to remind you that each council is responsible for the licensing of HMOs within its own area, including considering if the granting of a new licence would result in over-provision, and for enforcement of the relevant legislation in conjunction with the NIHMO Unit.”
Responsibility for the regulation of HMOs had previously passed from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to councils.
Considering the letter, Councillor Moutray asked officials at the planning meeting for an update as to “where we actually stand”.
He said: “Within the letter the Minister has set out very clearly that it’s within the remit of each council to set policy with regards to HMO provision. He has reminded all councils that they can also set restrictions on the number or percentages of HMOs to avoid an over-concentration in residential areas and ultimately to protect the character and amenity of the area in question.
“He’s also gone on to say within the letter that controls on numbers of HMOs are necessary to ensure that detrimental effects on residential areas are minimised.”
The Portadown-based councillor said it was a matter which had been discussed at length before and applied to “all the major towns” in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon borough.
“We look at Banbridge, for example — there’s one HMO,” said Councillor Moutray. “We look at Lurgan, where there is a housing need — there are only three HMOs. We look at Armagh — five. And then you look at Portadown — 38, with 14 in one street.
“We have to consider what the Minister has said here. We’ve looked at a number of applications in the past. We look at that figure — that’s from April 2025. Within recent weeks there have been a number of HMOs which have passed through this council on delegated authority and have been approved.
“Can I just ask, are we as a council any further on with regards to introducing some form of restrictions? Because we’ve sat through a number of workshops now on this very topic.”
Councillor Moutray said the matter had been raised in one of his first meetings as a councillor when the “specific need for our own HMO policy” was highlighted.
And he added: “Without that, I think members are effectively powerless to consider applications before us.”
Elizabeth Reaney, Director of Regulatory Services, Facilities and Assets, explained that the “licensing of HMOs falls to Environmental Health but it is processed through Belfast City Council”.
She said there had been a presentation and training for councillors after Tuesday night’s Environmental Services Committee and felt it would now be worth sharing that with all councillors.
“There have been a number of workshops with elected members around HMOs, but certainly at that training last night the overview from Belfast City Council — who provide the licensing side of things — offered a certain degree of reassurance to members as to the local situation and how the licensing process is taking place,” added Ms Reaney.
A workshop was held in August on the Local Development Plan and, specifically, a draft policy in relation to HMOs, according to Head of Planning Damian Mulligan, when it was “left with councillors to share with their parties and to come back with comments to the team”.
On two occasions, during a short update, the officer indicated he would not be drawn at a public meeting to detail what it contained.
“We’re not in confidential business and I’m not in a position to get into detail about what that draft policy looks like at the moment,” he told the planning committee. “But members will know — hopefully — they’ll either have been to the workshop or it will have been shared with them.
We will be bringing forward the draft plan strategy of our Local Development Plan later this business year.”
While that is pending, Mr Mulligan said they were in a position to look at any applications coming forward “in the context of current planning policy, in particular the Strategic Planning Policy Statement”.
“For example, we can look at impacts on amenity, car parking, traffic,” he explained. “We’re also working very, very closely with the Environmental Health team and, if they have any evidence-based indicators of concern relating to high-density development in the vicinity of a site proposed for an HMO, they will make the Planning Department aware of that so it can be taken into consideration.
“If the evidence is there, we will of course consider it — and that is the position we’re following at the present time.”
