Multiple occupancy private rental applications to be decided by Derry & Strabane Planning Committee

A HMO is a private rented property shared by multiple people, often students, and any application decisions are usually decided by Planning officers, under the council’s scheme of delegation, without the need for approval by the Committee.

However, at a Special Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday, Sinn Féin councillor Grace Uí Niallais proposed that Planning Officers would bring any HMO decisions into Committee for decision if they think it will lead any particular street having an HMO level of ten percent or over.

Councillor Uí Niallais said she has been “continuously contacted” by concerned residents in particular areas about the rising number of HMOs and, while the expansion of Magee University was a priority for the city, HMO levels need to be “in harmony with the community who already live in these areas”.

She added: “The University Taskforce recognises this themselves and have highlighted concerns and capacity issues in some streets and around the university area.

“We need to be conscious of the impact that the expansion of the university has, and ensure that residents have their say on the residential character of their area.

“Some of these residents have been living here for generations and they are really feeling it at the minute, so I just felt that this needed to be brought up and highlighted,” the Derry Councillor added.

Andrew Balfour,

Local Democracy Reporter.