Landlords planning to convert homes into small shared houses will soon need planning permission across the Three Rivers district after councillors unanimously backed tighter controls. On 1 June 2026, the Policy and Resources Committee voted to prepare an Article 4 Direction that strips away the automatic right to turn a property into a house in multiple occupation for up to six people. The move means any new small HMO will have to go through a full planning application on top of existing licensing rules.
The council says it has tracked a clear rise in potential new HMOs over the last five months and now holds enough evidence to justify the intervention. Leader of the council Stephen Giles-Medhurst said the direction would let the authority properly weigh the effect any new concentration of shared housing could have on an area. “We need to consider, rightly, the impacts on local communities of a higher concentration of HMOs, the housing mix, and neighbourhood character,” he told the committee.
The direction will not take effect overnight. Councillors considered bringing it in immediately but backed away after the Director of Finance warned of a financial risk if they did so. Instead, a public consultation will run first, and the new requirement is expected to come into force within 12 months. Cllr Steve Drury, Lead Member for Community Engagement, Public Safety and Housing, said HMOs were a valid housing option but stressed that getting the location right and hearing what residents think matters just as much.
Further details are set out in the council’s announcement following the committee decision.
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