A West London resident has urged his local council to get a grip on the overconcentration of HMOs which he says has meant he can hear his neighbour “having his morning poo”.
He told councillors at Ealing Council on Tuesday (June 15) that residents are in despair and feel as if no one is listening to them.
Manos Kanellos, a Hanwell resident, described living next to a HMO as a “nightmare”. Speaking of his neighbour’s morning routine he added: “His bum is 70 centimetres from my table, I can hear everything – there is no sound insulation in these houses.”
A frustrated Mr Mannelos went on to say: “We have tried to talk to [Ealing] Council, but nobody will listen – we are basically the new Perivale. Family homes are being converted into HMOs – mini hotels – and rented back to the council.
“We are against the overconcentration of this in our area. It destroys our neighbourhood, our family neighbourhood.”
Mr Manellos was speaking on behalf of a group of 50 households in Hanwell. He spoke of a group of residents “at the end of [their] despair”.
Councillor Louise Brett, Cabinet Member for Safe and Genuinely Affordable Homes, began to respond to Mr Kanellos, explaining that the council takes HMOs and licensing issues very seriously before she was briefly interrupted when she asked “please give me a chance to respond”.
She went on to describe the increase in homelessness and lack of social housing, for which HMOs can be a tool to provide someone accommodation.
Cllr Brett added: “An Article 4 Direction will come into force borough-wide in November, which will remove permitted development rights which allow homes to be converted into small HMOs without needing planning permission. Once Article 4 is in place, any new proposals for HMOs will need to go through the full planning process.”
Article 4 is a planning tool that allows councils to take back control over things like property conversions, requiring them to get planning permission before family homes, for instance, can be turned into HMOs.
She admitted that until Article 4 comes into force in November, HMOs do not require any planning permission. There is already an Article 4 Direction in place in Perivale, which was introduced in October 2024.
This is not the first time that Ealing Council has faced backlash over the growing number of HMOs in the borough, with many families feeling these homes negatively impact the character and safety of a local area.
In June, a house in Perivale – which currently is under an Article 4 Direction – applied for permission to convert a family home into a HMO. Despite over 100 objections, and council officers previously accepting the high concentration of HMOs in the town, it was approved.
The planning officer later said that the proposed development was “not expected to cause unacceptable amenity impact on the neighbouring properties”. However, residents living nearby remained unconvinced.
What is an Article 4 Direction?
Changes to planning legislation in the 1990s made it possible to alter some buildings without planning permission. This was known as permitted development rights.
As a way to give local councils more control, Article 4 of the The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order was introduced to give those local authorities a way to remove those permitted development rights for specific areas or properties – essentially meaning people do need planning permission to make changes to certain buildings, or all buildings in certain areas.
In the context of Perivale, the Article 4 Direction means full planning permission is required for all conversions of single-family dwelling houses to small HMOs. This is what is also coming into force in Hanwell in November 2025.
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