HMOs and Hysteria

HMOs are a feature of housing policy discussion for various reasons.  They have been subject to licensing regimes, for example, because of concerns about health and safety in them.  They are known to have higher fire risks.  In Wales, planning permission is required to create new HMOs.  HMOs also provide accommodation to disparate populations, like students or people who are only entitled to the single room reference rent.  They also provide accommodation for those with support needs – indeed, they are a critical part of that provision.  There is a rather fantastic briefing by the veritable  Gwennan Hardy of Senedd Research team that was published on Wednesday.

However, it is also the case that HMOs raise hysteria levels, as we know from the outrageous scenes which are recorded across the media.  I even read yesterday about some so-called English nationalists unlawfully entering the home of somebody and stupidly (because, let’s face it, these people are pretty stupid) posting that unlawful entry to a social media account.  It’s at moments like this when I despair about what we have become (and, as I’m not feeling well today, that despair is accentuated).  The hysteria has, of course, reached the Senedd, as Reform UK members proposed a motion (on 7^th October) (also discussed here) that the Senedd

“1. Calls on the Welsh Government to overhaul houses in multiple occupation licensing and social-housing eligibility rules to end access to HMOs and social housing for foreign nationals, including working with the UK Government where necessary.”

I have posted a lot on the eligibility rules and don’t intend to do so again here.  For me, the idea of “foreign nationals” being excluded is so inimical to anything that I can conceive as being part of our “social” that it feels impossible to provide comment.  Nor do I know what a “foreign national” actually is.  Francesca O’Brien MS, in leading the debate seemed to suggest that a “foreign national was somebody who is not part of “the people of Wales and the United Kingdom. We should be prioritising our own families, our veterans and those who have contributed to our great country”.  When pressed by Dafydd Trystan Davies to identify “are you talking about nationality as self-recorded or are you talking about citizenship and UK passport holders” – Ms O’Brien answered “the latter”.

Given the dire state of housing and the rise in housing need, it is hardly a surprise that “foreign nationals” – many of whom are discriminated against in the housing market and, we know from research going right the way back, tend to occupy the cheapest accommodation – find themselves in HMOs and other risky accommodation.

Stop the hysteria and let’s talk about how we can make this type of accommodation the safest it can be, and (my campaign) have greater enforcement of the existing law to ensure health and safety in the home.