Council agrees to move to 10% HMO cap

Derry City and Strabane District Council has unanimously passed a proposal by Cllr Shaun Harkin (PBP) regarding the process of capping the number of Houses in Multiple Occupation in a particular area at 10%.

Seconded by Cllr Shauna Cusack (Independent), the proposal noted “the position of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) that amendments to the interim HMO cap in the Local Development Plan (LDP), fall within the Council’s powers.

“The Council therefore agrees to immediately commence the necessary process to amend the current interim HMO cap from 30% to 10%,” it said.

Speaking to his proposal, Cllr Harkin said his assessment of the situation was that DfI was saying Council had the power to move forward and lower the HMO cap itself.

Supporting the proposal on behalf of the SDLP, Cllr Sean Mooney said it would be prudent to get an indicative timeline on how long it would take to change Council policy, in compliance with DfI protocol.

Ald Keith Kerrigan said he also had concerns about the timescale and sought a “realistic” timeframe.

“The amendment to the Local Development Plan (LDP) will take time. From my understanding, it still has to go back out to public consultation and the arguments and wording that were used to agree the caps of 10% and 30% in the first instance, two and half years ago, there is now going to have to be a justification why the 30% cap is no longer acceptable and that will have to be accepted by the Department,” added Ald Kerrigan.

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Cllr Chris Jackson said Sinn Féin had no objection to the proposal. 

He added: “We were heavily involved in every step of the [previous process]. We insisted that a HMO policy was put in place to try and control HMO development, whereas before that intervention there would not have been any HMO policy.

“The best way we can present a case [for lowering the HMO cap] is by getting members together and strongly informing officers of our intent and discussing and deliberating on the evidence and making sure we put the best case forward.”