Fears Rise as New Council Plans Could Force HMOs into Specific Ashfield Areas

Ashfield District Council has this week approved plans to introduce Article 4 Directions that will force dwellings to receive planning permission to convert to HMOs, including retrospectively rescinding permitted development rights for those that already exist, but only in areas of Ashfield where they are already concentrated.

Article 4 Directions were approved by full council on Monday 29th September 2025.

HMOs, or Houses of Multiple Occupancy, are a type of housing property which can accommodate multiple occupants from different households, with shared facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom, or toilet. Currently, HMOs that can occupy 5 or more occupants require a license to operate, however smaller HMOs are not regulated in this way.

Many HMOs are being let by companies like Serco at above the market rate, to asylum seekers on behalf of the Home Office. In the Ashfield district, there are 110 asylum seekers living in dispersal accommodations at taxpayers’ expense, according to the most recent Home Office statistics.

Ashfield MP Lee Anderson and Ashfield Reform UK have been campaigning to stop HMOs in Ashfield by applying Article 4 Directions to all HMOs in Ashfield. However, this week Ashfield District Council have agreed to introduce these measures, but only to ‘areas of the district where evidence demonstrates any significant concentrations of HMOs’. Reform UK Councillors on the authority were denied a vote on the former.

This has led to concerns that HMOs may only be stopped in areas of Ashfield where they are already in high concentration like the town centres of Sutton and Hucknall, leaving the rest of the district to endure them.

Reform UK Councillor Cathy Mason said:

“HMOs have blighted every part of Ashfield. Neighbourhoods where these sites are imposed often see a sharp rise in issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour, parking and waste issues, noise issues, and more.”

“Certain streets are full to bursting with them. They house troubled residents who have no respect for their neighbours. Families who have lived on their streets for years are now desperate to leave. These HMOs are making poor areas poorer.”

“We don’t want to see any HMOs in Ashfield. Article 4 Directions are needed to stop all HMOs in Ashfield, not just areas where there is a concentration. This just leaves the door open for them to be forced into other areas like Skegby and The Dales in my division.”

“Residents are rightly concerned.”