AIM
To strike a balance between the demand for multiple occupancy and the need to ensure that the stability of neighbourhoods and the residential amenity of properties and streets is not adversely affected by a concentration of multiple occupancies.
POLICY
The legal controls over this type of housing use are complex. Multiple occupancy in a flat, for example, needs 2 legal permissions before it can operate – planning permission, and a licence for a house in multiple occupation (HMO Licence). The two sections below, DEFINING WHAT REQUIRES PLANNING PERMISSION and LICENSING REQUIREMENTS, set out these requirements. Failure to obtain planning permission lays the owner open to enforcement action under planning legislation, and failure to obtain a Licence can lead to prosecution, under housing legislation.
Planning applications for multiple occupancy will be judged against the following:
-
There must be individual access to a lit street. This will include main door flats (see Definition) and undivided terraced houses, but will exclude most properties served by a tenement close (see Definition) and/or communal stairs and properties which have already been subdivided.
-
There must be direct access to a refuse store and a drying area to the rear of the building (recycling space should be provided in accordance with policy DES 12: Provision of Waste and Recycling Space).
-
The need for car parking will be assessed, in each case, in accordance with policy TRANS 4: Vehicle Parking Standards.
-
Within a given street or block (or other readily identifiable unit)1 the proportion of multiple occupancies should not exceed 5% of the total number of dwellings comprising that unit (exemptions from this rule may include properties that have become completely isolated from family accommodation).
Applications for purpose built student accommodation are encouraged, particularly on appropriate sites, in areas reasonably accessible to the city’s colleges and universities, provided other relevant plan policies are met.
CERTIFICATES OF LAWFULNESS
When an application is submitted for a Certificate of Existing Lawful Use as a multiple occupancy, the applicant is required to demonstrate that the use has been in operation continuously for 10 years preceding the date of the application.
Examples of evidence which may be submitted are as follows:
-
rent books or equivalent relating to the premises for the past 10 years where payments have been acknowledged by tenants;
-
copies of letting agreements with tenants for every year for the past 10 years;
-
copies of gas/electricity bills indicating that the premises have been let in multiple occupation for the past 10 years;
-
extracts from the Council Tax Register;
-
evidence of the registration of rents for the premises indicating that they were used as multiple occupancies for the past 10 years;
-
copies of returns to, or certificates from, HM Revenue and Customs indicating that the premises had been rated as commercial, as a result of their being used as multiple occupancies for the past 10 years; and
-
pre-registration records held by the Council's Land and Environmental Services (Environmental Health).
The list of criteria is not exhaustive and it is possible for satisfactory evidence to come from other sources. The onus to produce such evidence lies with the applicant.
LOCAL AREA POLICIES
A concentration of flats in multiple occupancy within a particular neighbourhood has the potential to change the dynamics of a community and undermine its stability in regard to schools and shops. High turnover of residents and under-occupied buildings during university/college holidays, along with the potential for lack of routine maintenance of properties in these areas, can discourage owner occupation and detract from residential amenity.
Historically, multiple occupancy has been concentrated within parts of the West End, close to Glasgow University and with easy access to the other universities and colleges in the City. The density of flats with an HMO licence in Hillhead and Woodlands, in the heart of Ward 11, has now reached such a level that no further planning applications for multiple occupancies will be supported in these areas (see Map accompanying this policy).
West End Multiple Occupancy
DEFINING WHAT REQUIRES PLANNING PERMISSION
HOUSES, OTHER THAN FLATS
Permission is required for a house:
FLATS
Permission is required for a flat (see Definition) where three or more unrelated persons live.
Planning permission is deemed not to be required where only one lodger is accommodated in addition to one resident family (see Definition).
LICENSING REQUIREMENT
If granted planning permission or a certificate of lawfulness, applicants will also have to obtain a licence for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). An application form and guidance notes can be obtained from the Licensing Section, Chief Executive’s Department, 235 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1QZ, or downloaded from glasgow.gov.uk.
Applicants should note that possession of a planning permission or certificate of lawfulness will not guarantee the grant of an HMO licence, where Licensing addresses different matters, such as fire safety.
DEFINITIONS
FAMILY - A person is a member of the same family, if married to each other or living together as a couple, or one of them is the parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the other (including step and half relations) (Source: Article 2(5) of The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000).
FLAT - A separate set of premises whether or not on the same floor and forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally (Source: The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development)(Scotland) Order 1992).
MAIN DOOR FLAT - A ground floor flat within a residential building with a direct access to the street through a private front garden.
MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY - The only, or principle, residence of more than 2 persons who are not all members either of the same family or of one or other of 2 families (Source: Guidance to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupancy) Order 2000).
TENEMENT CLOSE - The shared entrance and stairway within a traditional flatted residential building, with or without commercial units on the ground floor.
POLICY JUSTIFICATION
This policy supports the Plan’s Development Strategy to maintain and protect residential amenity within existing residential areas (see Part 2, PEOPLE, Existing Residential Areas, paragraph 3.62). Multiple occupancy provides an essential form of accommodation for many people, particularly students. When concentrated in a particular street or building, however, it can give rise to environmental problems due to increased activity, noise, pressure on car parking and refuse disposal.
There is no definition of multiple occupancy in planning legislation, nor any commonly accepted definition for multiple occupancy of a flat. The guidance to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupancy) Order 2000 does, however, define multiple occupancy (see Definition). A planning policy requires such a definition to highlight why multiple occupancy of a flat (see Definitions) is different from family (see Definition) occupancy of a flat to the extent that it constitutes a material change of use requiring planning permission. It must also provide clarity for the purposes of enforcement.
On the basis of the above, and other factors such as upkeep of gardens and property, multiple occupancy is regarded by the Council as being sufficiently different from family occupancy, in fact and degree, to allow a change from the latter to the former to be regarded as a material change of use requiring planning permission.
Note: Given the historic and continuing concentration of multiple occupancy in the West End, and the need to protect residential amenity/encourage stable communities, the Council has decided to tighten its definition of multiple occupancy to bring the previous policy for multiple occupation in the West End (City Plan 1) into line with that for the rest of the City. This will add clarity to the application of planning policy and discourage concentrations within the West End. This definition would also align with the definition of an HMO under Licensing Legislation.
1 The flexibility provided by the phrase “given street or block (or other readily identifiable unit)” was recognised as “helpful and appropriate” by the Reporter at the Local Plan Inquiry into City Plan 1.