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Leeds HMO Lobby

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Tenth ANNUAL REPORT 2010

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns locally and nationally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Its tenth anniversary saw the achievement of the Lobby's main aim, with the government's announcement of amendments to the Use Classes Order, in order to subject HMOs to planning control.

The HMO Lobby
Leeds HMO Lobby
- Leeds HMO Lobby currently comprises some two-dozen local community groups. During the year, Beckett's Park RA joined the Lobby. The representatives have met ten times (and one meeting was cancelled), on a monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre.
- Four issues of Headway have been published, nos 28-31, with a circulation of 2,000; ten members of the Lobby currently subscribe and circulate the newsletter.
- Income in the tenth year amounted to £2033 and expenditure was £1787 (the two main items were Headway and the national HMO consultation) [accounts are tabled separately].

National HMO Lobby
- The National HMO Lobby, set up formally at the end of 2004, has continued to grow. It was joined by groups in Bristol, Chichester, Manchester, Newcastle and Salford; others have lapsed. It now comprises over fifty groups in over thirty towns. A Report on its progress was published in December 2009.
- Lobbying included visits by Iain Wright, Minister for Planning, to Southampton, March 2009, and by his successor John Healey to Oxford, January 2010.
- Conferences attended included Northern Housing Consortium The future contribution & potential of Private Sector Housing conference, Harrogate, 23 April 2009, and Volunteering England's Policy Seminar, Can students be good citizens? London, 17 February 2010.
- Publications comprised Dr Darren Smith & Dr Richard Tyler 'Studentification: success & failure of the PRS' presented to Northern Housing Consortium The future contribution & potential of Private Sector Housing conference, Harrogate, 23 April; Representation on the consultation on the Government Response to the Rugg Review submitted to CLG, 6 August; letter to Guardian, 16 December 2009; Covenants on HMOs briefing bulletin, 9 February 2010; A Response to the Consultation on General Consents for Licensing Schemes, 22 February.
- However, the year was dominated by the HMO Consultation. The Lobby's campaign comprised: Campaign Bulletin 01 circulated 14 May 2009; Campaign Bulletin 02 circulated 18 May; Campaign Bulletin 03 circulated 20 May; Campaign Bulletin 04 circulated 2 June 2009; Campaign Bulletins 05 and 06 circulated 8 June; National HMO Seminar in Birmingham, 12 June; Campaign Bulletins 07 (Seminar Report) and 08 circulated 15 June; Campaign Bulletin 09 circulated 16 June; Campaign Bulletin 10 circulated 17 June; Campaign Bulletins 11 and 12 circulated 16 July; delegation to CLG, and Response to the CLG Consultation on Houses in Multiple Occupation and possible planning responses presented to CLG, 30 July; Campaign Bulletin 13 (Delegation Report) circulated 4 August 2009; Campaign Bulletin 14 (Campaign Report) circulated 10 August; interim Campaign Bulletin 15 (Outcomes) circulated 8 February 2010.

Allies
The Lobby is supported local, nationally and internationally by the Councillors Campaign for Balanced Communities, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Balanced & Sustainable Communities, and the international website TownGownWorld, respectively.

National Action
National action is carried out by the National HMO Lobby. On 5 June 2009, John Denham MP was appointed Secretary of State at Communities & Local Government, followed by John Healey MP as Minister of State for Housing & Planning.

HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION
" Communities & Local Government Houses in multiple occupation and possible planning responses: Consultation CLG, London, May 2009; consultation begins.
" RTPI, The Planning System and Houses in Multiple Occupation, Conference, Brighton, 22 June 2009
" Peterborough City Council, Additional HMO Licensing introduced, 1 July 2009
" Communities & Local Government Houses in multiple occupation and possible planning responses: consultation ends.
" Communities & Local Government, John Healey: Local powers for councils to protect communities and improve standards in the private rented sector, CLG Press Release, 27 January 2010
" Communities & Local Government, Houses in multiple occupation and possible planning responses: consultation - Summary of Responses, CLG, London, 27 January 2010
" John Healey MP, Minister for Housing & Planning, Written Ministerial Statement, House of Commons, 27 January 2010
" Communities & Local Government, Evaluation of the Impact of HMO Licensing and Selective Licensing, CLG, London, 27 January 2010
" Communities & Local Government, A guide to the licensing and management provisions in Parts 2, 3 and 4 of the Housing Act 2004 - Draft, CLG, London, 27 January 2010
" Communities & Local Government, General consents for licensing schemes under Parts 2 and 3 of the Housing Act 2004 - Consultation, CLG, London, 27 January 2010
" Communities & Local Government, The private rented sector: professionalism and quality - consultation: Summary of responses and next steps, CLG, London, 3 February 2010

STUDENTS & COMMUNITY
" Andy Reed MP (Loughborough) Student Housing Question, House of Commons, 12 March 2009
" Student Riot, South Belfast, St Patrick's Day, 17 March 2009
" NUS Students in the Community: Recent developments in student-led community partnerships conference, Birmingham, 11 June 2009
" Unipol Student Housing, the Market, the Community and what Student Unions can do conference, 18-20 August 2009
" Clare Holdsworth, Student Volunteers: A National Profile, Volunteering England, London, 17 February 2010

HOUSING
" The Scottish Government Review of the Private Rented Sector Edinburgh, 24 March 2009
" Communities & Local Government The private rented sector: professionalism and quality - The Government response to the Rugg Review: Consultation CLG, London, May 2009

STUDIES
" Eeva Berglund, ed, Growing by Degrees: Universities in the Future of Urban Development, Building Futures (a division of the RIBA), March 2009
" Darren P Smith, Guest Editor, 'Student Geographies' Theme Issue, Environment & Planning A, Vol 41, Issue 8, 2009

" Media Hilary Osborne, 'Recession boost for student towns' The Observer, 2 August 2009; Chris Gourlay 'Tough new guidelines on student housing' Sunday Times, 9 August 2009; Rebecca O'Connor, 'Landlords and tenants attack government crackdown on "student ghettos" ' (p37) The Times, 10 August 2009; Channel Four, 'Student HMOs', News at Noon, 10 August 2009; Mark Wilding, 'Policy's multiple choice' Planning, Issue 1832, 21 August 2009, p8; Patrick Wintour, 'Minister to act against student enclaves' The Guardian, 12 September 2009, p16; Julie Ferry, 'Everybody needs good neighbours' The Guardian ('Work' Supplement) 12 September 2009, p14; Jamie Doward, 'Student ghetto areas "blight lives of locals" ' The Observer, 13 September 2009, p16; Martin Blakey, 'Disgruntled locals cannot dictate student accommodation policy' The Guardian, 6 October 2009, p33; Winifred Robinson, 'Shared Houses' You and Yours, BBC Radio 4, 8 October 2009; Paola Buonadonna, 'HMO Legislation' The Politics Show, BBC1, 25 October 2009; Richard Tyler and V Rampulla, 'Is shared housing a planning problem?' Property Week, 13 November 2009, pp80-81.

Local Action
The Lobby has been concerned, not only with city-wide planning and housing policy, but also with local policy in Inner NW Leeds. The Lobby has represented the community at meetings of the PRS Strategy Group and Leeds Housing Partnership. The Shared Housing Group has fallen into abeyance.

HMOs
" 30 July 2009 Response to CLG's Consultation on Houses in Multiple Occupation and possible planning responses (presented to CLG, 30 July 2009)

INNER NW LEEDS
" The History of Headingley Spring 2009
" Representation on Area Delivery Plan 2008-2011 presented to Area Management, 24 April 2009
" Parking in Headingley presented to INWAC Transport Group, 12 November 2009
" A Commentary on Leeds City Council's Neighbourhood Index, presented to INWAC, 25 February 2010

STUDENTIFICATION
" Meeting with Dr Geoff Hitchens, CEO, Leeds Metropolitan University, 18 March 2009
" Unipol Student Homes, Owners Briefings, 14 July and 16 December 2009
" Unipol Student Homes, Code of Standards Review, completed 22 July 2009
" University of Leeds, Community & Housing Forums, 19 October 2009
" Leeds University Union, Community Strategy, 19 October 2009
" When Leeds Met Headingley … A response to Leeds Metropolitan University's Community Engagement Paper, presented to Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Metropolitan University, 22 February 2010

HOUSING
" Leeds Housing Partnership Forum, Leeds Housing Strategy, 20 March 2009

PLANNING POLICY
" Representation on Local Development Framework Core Strategy Preferred Approach presented to LCC, 4 December 2009

PLANNING APPLICATIONS
" 09/00856/FU, Former Glassworks (PBD), 31 March 2009
" 08/06992/OT, 4-28 Westfield Road (PBD), 31 March 2009
" 09/01142/FU/NW, 88 Victoria Road (COU), 31 March 2009
" 09/00892/FU, 48 Walmsley Road (extn), 17 April 2009
" 09/02126/FU/NW, 88 Victoria Road, and 09/02308/FU/NW, 88 Victoria Road (COUs), 18 June 2009, and appeals
" 09/02706/FU/NW, Club, 16 Ash Grove (new build), 26 August 2009
" 09/03288/FU, 86 Becketts Park Drive (COU), 1 September 2009
" 09/04400/FU, 10 St Anne's Road (agency), 26 October, and appeal
" 09/04161/FU, 1 North Grange Road (extn), 11 November 2009
" 09/05107/FU/NW, 17-19 Brudenell Road (COU), 20 January 2010
" 09/05619/FU, 8 Royal Park Road (agency), 26 January 2010
" 08/04214/OT, etc, Leeds Girls High School (new build), 26 January 2010

" Media Occasional letters in YEP.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby, 1 March 2010

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Ninth ANNUAL REPORT 2009

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns locally and nationally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

National HMO Lobby
- The National HMO Lobby, set up formally at the end of 2004, has continued to grow. It was joined by groups in Blackpool, Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Salford and Swansea; others have lapsed. It now comprises fifty-nine groups in thirty-six towns. A Report on its progress was published in November 2008.
- Lobbying included visits by Iain Wright, Minister for Planning, to Loughborough and Nottingham, 13 May 2008, and to Loughborough, 17 December 2008.
- Conferences attended included DCLG HMOs Seminar, London, 9 April; HEFCE consultation on New University Challenge in Leeds, 24 September; BURA reception on Turning the Tide of HMOs in Coastal Towns in Westminster, 27 January 2009; Unipol conference on the Rugg Review, London, 28 January.
- Publications comprised UCO & HMO Hymn Sheet, April; representation on Sustainable Development in Higher Education, 21 August; representation on New University Challenge, August; letter to Guardian, 2 September; representation on HMO & UCO October; representation on PRS Review 2008, November; discussion document on Second Homes for Students November; representation on The Future of Higher Education 17 November; Evidence on HMO Licensing presented to BRE, 30 January 2009.

National Action
National action is carried out by the National HMO Lobby. In June 2007, Hazel Blears was appointed Secretary of State at the Dept for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) and Iain Wright Minister for Panning; Margaret Beckett succeeded Caroline Flint as Minister for Housing in October 2008. The impact of HMOs has received increasing attention: the year has been dominated by the ECOTEC research on HMOs and by the Rugg Review of the private rented sector, both commissioned by CLG.

HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION
" Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint launched "a new review aimed at improving the management and conditions of people living in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)," 9 April 2008
" Department for Communities & Local Government HMOs Seminar Eland House, London, 9 April 2008
" Northern Ireland Housing Executive A Strategy for Houses in Multiple Occupation in Northern Ireland: Consultation Document April 2008
" Communities & Local Government Evidence Gathering - Housing in Multiple Occupation and possible planning responses CLG, London, September 2008
" Planning Service (NI) Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs): Subject Plan for Belfast City Council Area 2015 15 December 2008
" BURA Seaside Network Turning the tide of HMOs in coastal towns Reception, Westminster, 27 January 2009

STUDENTS & COMMUNITY
" Universities UK Universities Planning Guidance May 2008
" NUS Students in the Community: Beyond the Campus conference, Leeds, 9 June 2008
" HEFCE A new 'University Challenge': consultation on proposals for new higher education centres HEFCE, Bristol, 2008
" University of Brighton Universities & Community Liaison conference, Brighton, 11-12 August 2008
" Unipol Student Housing: The Market, The Community and What Students' Unions Can Do conference, Leeds, 12-14 August
" DIUS, The Debate on the Future of Higher Education, 12 November 2008
" Unipol Student Homes, The Rugg Review and Its Relevance to Students, conference, London, 28 January 2009

HOUSING
" House of Commons, Communities & Local Government Committee The Supply of Rented Housing (HC 457) The Stationery Office, London, 21 May 2008
" Andrew Smith MP (Oxford East) Private Rented Sector Debate, Westminster Hall, 24 June 2008
" National Housing & Planning Advice Unit, Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Research Literature on the Purchase and Use of Second Homes, 10 October 2008
" Dr Julie Rugg and Dr David Rhodes, The Private Rented Sector: its contribution and potential, University of York, 23 October 2008

" Media Sebastian O'Kelly 'Round up students and protect towns from the havoc that they wreak' The Mail on Sunday 17 August 2008; Allegra Stratton, 'New law could end 'studentification' of towns' Guardian, 26 September 2008; Jeremy Vine, 'Are students ruining your town?' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2, 26 September 2008; Sebastian O'Kelly, 'Flint cracks the whip on student digs' Mail on Sunday, 28 September 2008.

STUDENTIFICATION
" University of Leeds, Community & Housing Forums, 29 July 2008
" Unipol Student Homes, Code of Standards Review, 24 October 2008
" Shared Housing Group, revised Shared Housing Action Plan, 18 November 2008
" Unipol Student Homes, Owners Briefing, 16 December 2008
" 'Coals to Newcastle, Students to Headingley!' News Release, 13 February 2009 [regarding 'Accredited Properties Wanted for Leeds Trinity & All Saints Students' LLAS The Network Winter 2009, p4]

HOUSING
" LCC Shared Housing Group, sub-group meeting on Additional HMO Licensing, 14 August 2008
" LCC NW (Inner) Area Committee, Housing Strategy Group Housing Strategy for the Area of Housing Mix adopted 18 November 2008
" Yorkshire & Humber Regional Spatial Strategy Consultation, 10 December 2008
" LCC, Leeds Housing Strategy Workshop, 14 January 2009

PLANNING POLICY
" Representation on Direction on Letting Boards (presented to Secretary of State, CLG, 14 July 2008)
" Comments on Affordable Housing SPD (presented to Development Department, 4 November 2008)

PLANNING APPLICATIONS
" 07 April 2008 Headingley Carnegie Pavilion (presented to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, March 2008)
" 12 May 2008, Representation on 08/02062/FU/NW, 45 St Michael's Lane, LS6 3BR (presented to Development Department, 20 May 2008)
" 12 June 2008 Representation on Leeds Metropolitan University's Proposed Development at Headingley Stadium (presented to Development Department, 12 June 2008)
" 10 September 2008 Proof of Evidence: Appeal by Parklane Properties against refusal by Leeds City Council of permission for student flats at former Glassworks, Cardigan Road, Leeds (presented to Planning Inspectorate, 10 September 2008)
" Planning Inspectorate Glassworks Public Inquiry Civic Hall, Leeds, 8-10 October 2008
" Planning Inspectorate, Appeal Decision on Glassworks, Cardigan Road, 19 November 2008

" Media Suzanne McTaggart, 'Student saturation point' YEP, 19 February 2009, pp26-27, and occasional letters in YEP.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby, 2 March 2009

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Eighth ANNUAL REPORT 2008

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns nationally and locally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation.

The HMO Lobby
Leeds HMO Lobby
- Leeds HMO Lobby currently comprises some two-dozen local community groups. Membership has not changed during the year. Lobby representatives have met ten times, on a regular monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre.
- Four issues of Headway have been published, nos 20-23, with a circulation of 2,000; eight members of the Lobby currently subscribe and circulate the newsletter.
- Income in the eighth year amounted to £388 (all subscriptions to Headway) and expenditure was £1060 (mostly on Headway printing) [accounts are tabled separately].
National HMO Lobby
- The National HMO Lobby, set up at the end of 2004, has continued to grow. It was joined by groups in Bournemouth, Egham (Surrey), Falmouth, Leicester, Manchester, Swansea and Treforest (Pontypridd), and now comprises fifty-six groups in thirty-five towns. A Report on its progress was published in November 2007.
- Business is normally conducted by email. But on 13 March 2008, NAG hosted a National Meeting in Nottingham (attended by members from as far afield as Canterbury, Southampton and Swansea).
- Conferences attended included Regeneration & Renewal's Balanced Mixed Communities Conference, Manchester, 12 September 2007; BURA's Social Challenge of the Seaside Rhyl, 20 September 2007; Universities UK's The University and the community - New directions for public engagement Conference, Woburn House, London, 25 October 2007
- Publications comprised 'Students in the Community: Studentification' Annual Conference, ASRA, Swansea, 3 April 2007 (also, 7 June, 'Students in the Community: Studentification' SE Regional Meeting, ASRA, Greenwich); 'Studentification: Tackling Causes, Tackling Effects', at Norwich City Council & University of East Anglia Studentification: the next steps Conference, Norwich, 19 June 2007; 'Love Thy Neighbour' Campus Life, #02, October 2007; and Balanced Communities or Studentification? News Release, 5 March 2008, and especially Balanced Communities & Studentification [position statement] launched, Nottingham, 13 March 2008.
Allies
After years of lonely campaigning, the Lobby is now supported at local and national government level - and also, internationally!
- The councillors who held a University Towns & Cities Conference in Nottingham on 1 February 2007 subsequently formed the Councillors Campaign for Balanced Communities. Their second conference was held on 13 March 2008, again in Nottingham, jointly with the National HMO Lobby.
- An All-Party Parliamentary Group on Balanced & Sustainable Communities was registered in Parliament on 28 March 2007. Representatives of the Lobby attended their inaugural meeting at Westminster on 27 June.
- The international website TownGownWorld was launched in November 2007, linking Canada, UK and USA.

National Action
National action is carried out by the National HMO Lobby. In June 2007, Hazel Blears was appointed Secretary of State at the Dept for Communities & Local Government (DCLG). The impact of HMOs has received increasing attention.
HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION
- House of Commons, Communities & Local Government Committee Coastal Towns (HC 351) The Stationery Office, London, 7 March 2007
- 'Mug the Minister' simultaneous representations to Minister for Local Government & Community Cohesion, by Loughborough, Nottingham and National HMO Lobby, 28 March 2007
- Loughborough delegation met the Minister for Local Government, London, 8 May 2007.
- Roberta Blackman-Woods et al, EDM 1488 Balanced and Sustainable Housing and Communities, House of Commons, 16 May 2007
- Dr Alan Whitehead MP, 'Houses in Multiple Occupation' Ten Minute Rule Motion, House of Commons, 22 May 2007
- Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, 'Balanced and Sustainable Communities' and Mark Lancaster MP, 'Houses in multiple occupancy' Adjournment Debates, Westminster Hall, 5 June 2007.
- Nottingham City Council, delegation to DCLG, London, 18 June 2007
- DCLG, Evaluating the impact of HMO and Selective Licensing: the baseline before licensing in April 2006. August, 2007
- Nottingham City Council, delegation to DCLG, London, 5 February 2008
STUDENTS & COMMUNITY
- NUS: Not Under Stood, News Release, 5 June 2007; National Union of Students, Students in the Community: Working together to achieve harmony, NUS, London, 11 June 2007
- Engaging with the Community: Open Letter to Our Universities presented to President, Universities UK, 25 October 2007
- DIUS A New University Challenge, 3 March 2008; Representation on A New University Challenge, 5 March 2008.
HOUSING
- DCLG Homes for the Future: more affordable, more sustainable July 2007; A Representation on Homes for the Future Housing Green Paper presented to DCLG, October 2007
- DCLG, Private Rented Sector Review, Policy Round Table: Student Housing, London, 4 March 2008

- Media Mark Smulian, 'The young ones' Local Government Chronicle 12 April 2007, pp20-21 [see also, Mark Pickering, 'University Challenge' LGC, 26 April 2007]; Louise Tickle, 'Here come the students - and there goes the neighbourhood' Education Guardian, 15 May 2007; Anita Anand et al, 'Swamped with Students' in Anita Anand, BBC Radio Five, 15 May 2007; Patrick Collinson, 'A plague on all their houses' Guardian, 2 June 2007; Patrick Collinson, 'Laid to waste by a feeding frenzy' Guardian, 9 June 2007; Tony Leven, 'Nottingham's forest of housing despair' Guardian, 16 June 2007; Jonathan Guthrie, 'Educate the young, and what do you get?' Financial Times, 14 June 2007; Justin Rowlatt, 'Buy-To-Let Bother' The ONE Show, BBC1, 15 November 2007

HOUSING
- LCC NW (Inner) Area Committee agreed to include a Housing Strategy for the Area of Housing Mix in the Area Delivery Plan 2007/2008, as recommended by the Lobby, 8 March 2007
- LCC NW (Inner) Area Committee, Housing Strategy Group first meeting, 20 March 2007
- LCC Inner NW Area Committee/Headingley Development Trust, Seminar on Housing in Inner NW Leeds, 18 June 2007
- LCC Motion adopted on Houses in Multiple Occupation, 31 October 2007

PLANNING POLICY
- May 2007 Representation on City Centre Area Action Plan Preferred Options Main Report April 2007 (presented to Development Department, May 2007)
- July 2007 Representation on EASEL Area Action Plan (presented to Development Department, July 2007)
- November 2007 Representation on Aire Valley Leeds Area Action Plan (presented to Development Dept, November 2007)
- 04 February 2008 Student Accommodation and Affordable Housing in Leeds (presented to Affordable Housing Workshop, 6 February 2008)
- December 2007 Representation on Core Strategy Issues & Alternative Options Shaping the Future October 2007 (presented to Development Dept, December 2007)

PLANNING APPLICATIONS
- 23 April 2007 Objection to planning application by Leeds Metropolitan University at Beckett's Park (presented to Development Department, 23 April 2007)
- 12 June 2007 Representation on Leeds Girls High School (presented to LGHS, 12 June 2007)
- 30 July 2007 Representation on Tetley Hall Redevelopment by Pickard Properties (presented to Pickard Properties, 30 July 2007)
- 14 August 2007 Representation on Leeds Girls High School (presented to Executive Board, LCC, 14 August 2007)
- January 2008 Representation on Proposed Residential Development of former Glassworks at Cardigan Road, Leeds LS6 1LF (presented to Development Dept, 9 January 2008)
- March 2008, Headingley Carnegie Pavilion (presented to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, March 2008)

- Media Grant Woodward, 'Families winning the battle of Headingley' Yorkshire Evening Post, 5 March 2007; Danny Huston, 'Students in Headingley' Look North, BBC1, 26 February 2008; and occasional letters in YEP.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby, 5 April 2008

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Seventh ANNUAL REPORT 2007

The inaugural meeting of Leeds HMO Lobby took place on 29 February 2000. So our regular meeting on 5 March 2007 was effectively the Lobby’s seventh anniversary! (Celebration of our seven years was considerably assisted by the kind provision of a bottle of House of Commons whisky by our founder and former MP, Harold Best.)

Locally, the Lobby has a dozen active and a dozen dormant member groups, it meets monthly, it produces Headway quarterly, and it turns over about £1,000 a year (mostly on Headway, much of this provided by our local councillors). Nationally, we lead a National HMO Lobby with some fifty groups in thirty towns. Our campaigning has been joined by a loose network of councillors, and we hope soon to see an All-Party Group of MPs.

Student demand is the major driver of concentrations of HMOs, and the issue of students ‘in’ the community is now widely recognised. It was the subject of a national conference organised by Unipol in Nottingham last May, of a seminar by Universities UK at the House of Commons in June, of a meeting of the All-Party University Group in the House of Lords in November, of the councillors’ conference in Nottingham in February, and even of a NUS Forum in London in March. All this has received considerable attention in the media, on national radio and television, as well as the national and professional press. We continued to lobby over planning and housing legislation, as well as producing discussion papers on Balanced Communities and a Ten Point Plan to address studentification. A new Commons report on Coastal Towns has drawn attention to HMO problems at the seaside also.

Locally, the Lobby has attended meetings of the Council’s Shared Housing Group, the PRS Strategy Group and Leeds Housing Partnership Forum. We have made representations on the Strategy for Housing Students and on the Affordable Housing Plan, as well as contributing to the consultations on the Local Development Framework (which is replacing the UDP), including the Core Strategy and local Area Action Plans. More specifically, we have lobbied for a Vision for Inner NW Leeds (Leeds Left Bank) and for strategies to carry this forward. Proposals for an Area Action Plan of our own, and for a local Housing Strategy, are in consequence included in the Area Delivery Plan for 2007/08. The Lobby has also commented on planning developments of strategic significance, especially 45 St Michael’s Lane, Leeds Met at Beckett’s Park, and Leeds Girls High School.

Our seventh anniversary was rewarded with a two-page feature in the Yorkshire Evening Post titled ‘Families winning the battle of Headingley’.

Full details follow.

The HMO Lobby
Leeds HMO Lobby
— Leeds HMO Lobby currently comprises twenty-five local community groups. During the year, St Chad’s RA and Heal Headingley disbanded, and Beckett’s Park RA joined. Headingley Development Trust affiliated to the Lobby. Lobby representatives have met eleven times, on a regular monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre. The Lobby adopted an Equal Opportunities statement, 4 September 2006.
— The Lobby joined Headingley Development Trust and the Cardigan Centre.
— Four issues of Headway have been published, nos 16-19, with a circulation of 2,000; nine members of the Lobby subscribe and circulate the newsletter. Darren Smith presented a seminar on Studentification, Cardigan Centre, 26 September 2006.
— Income in the seventh year currently amounts to £1,283 (including generous donations from West Park RA, from Cllrs Morton, Bentley, Chapman, Atha, Minkin and Illingworth, and from the Area Committee) and expenditure was £917 (Headway accounted for most of this turnover) [accounts will follow].
National HMO Lobby
— The National HMO Lobby, set up at the end of 2004, has continued to grow. It was joined by groups in Bangor, Blackpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Poole, Southampton and York, and now comprises forty-nine groups in thirty-one towns. A Report on its progress was published in November 2006.
— Business is normally conducted by email. But on 12 May, members from a dozen towns attended Students & Communities Revisited, the Unipol Conference in Nottingham, and on 1 February 2007, East Midlands members held a Regional Meeting in Nottingham (in fact attended by members from as far afield as Canterbury and Southampton). On 26 September, representatives from Nottingham attended the Shared Housing Group in Leeds.
— A Sustainable Communities Seminar was held in Durham (21 April 2006). The National HMO Lobby was represented (by NAG) at the presentation by Universities UK, Students & Communities Living in Harmony? House of Commons, 27 June 2006). And the Lobby submitted evidence to the University of York Public Inquiry (30 October 2006).
— Publications comprised 'Memorandum by the National HMO Lobby (AH06)' (ppEv88-89) in House of Commons, ODPM Committee Affordability and the Supply of Housing (HC 703-II) The Stationery Office, London, March 2006; 'Ten Point Plan' Students & Communities Revisited, Unipol Conference, Nottingham, 12 May 2006; 'Comment: It's good to discourage' Inside Housing 8 September 2006, p14; 'Memorandum by the National HMO Lobby (SRH25)' (ppEv89-90) in House of Commons, Communities & Local Governmeny Committee The Supply of Rented Housing (HC 47-II) The Stationery Office, London, November 2006; ‘What Communities Want’ NUS Students and the Community Roundtable Think Tank, London, 2 March 2007; ‘The Trauma of Turnover’ BURA Seaside Conference, Scarborough, 7 March 2007. Members of the Lobby also published letters in the national press, including Guardian (25 May), THES (7 & 14 July), Times (12 August), Guardian (13 September),and Country Life (28 September).
Allies
After years of lonely campaigning, the Lobby looks forward to support at local and national government level.
— Councillors held a University Towns & Cities Conference in Nottingham (1 February 2007).
— Members of Parliament are planning an All-Part Parliamentary Group on Balanced Communities.

National Action
National action is carried out by the National HMO Lobby. In May 2006, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was renamed Dept for Communities & Local Government (DCLG), and Ruth Kelly appointed Minister. The relations between students and communities have received increasing attention. The Lobby has made Representations on planning and housing policy, and produced Briefing Bulletins and Discussion Documents.
STUDENTS & COMMUNITIES
· Students & Communities Revisited, Unipol Conference, Nottingham, 12 May 2006
· Faint Praise for Universities news release, 19 June 2006
· Universities UK, Students & Communities Living in Harmony? House of Commons, 27 June.
· Phil Woolas, Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion, visited Loughborough (27 October 2006) and subsequently the local MP, Andy Reed, asked a Question on sustainable communities in areas of high density student housing in the House of Commons (12 December 2006).
· The All-Party Parliamentary University Group held a meeting on Student Accommodation in the House of Lords (15 November 2006) where the VC of Loughborough University gave an invaluable presentation.
· NUS Students and the Community Roundtable Think Tank, London, 1-2 March 2007
USE CLASSES ORDER
· Parliamentary HMO Lobby, representations to MPs, April 2006
HOUSING POLICY
Housing Act 2004: HMO Licensing came into effect on 6 April 2006; DCLG published Approval steps for additional and selective licensing designations in England November 2006. Housing Research Summary 228 Dealing with 'Problem' Private Rented Housing DCLG July 2006, included reference to student housing.
· Silo thinking misses the boat, news release, 10 August
· From Decent Homes to Sustainable Communities, representation to DCLG, September 2006
· The Supply of Rented Housing, representation to Select Committee for Communities & Local Government, October 2006
BRIEFING BULLETINS
· Ten Point Plan Briefing Bulletin, June 2006
· Students in the Private Rented Sector, Briefing Bulletin, October 2006
DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS
· Balanced Communities Discussion Document, April 2006

· Media Ben Kochan, ‘Community: Scatter the students’ Axis May/June 2006; Ben Kochan, ‘Rising tide of student mix elicits action’ Planning 2 June 2006; Jessica Shepherd, 'Student "yobs" drive out locals' THES, 30 June 2006 [see also letters from Bristol & National HMO Lobby, THES (7 July and 14 July 2006)]; Kate Allen, 'Excessive concentration' Inside Housing 7 July 2006, pp16-18; Mark Simpson, 'Student Housing' One O'Clock News BBC1, 8 August 2006 [see also, Dr Angela Montford, 'The gown can stifle a town' The Times, 12 August 2006]; Keith Cooper, 'Multiple Concerns' Inside Housing 1 September 2006, pp16-18 [see also, Richard Tyler, 'Comment: It's good to discourage' Inside Housing 8 September 2006, p14]; reports on meetings in Nottingham in Today (BBC Radio 4), Jeremy Vine (BBC Radio 2) and Drive (BBC Radio 5), 1 February 2007; David Sapsted, 'Student takeover is wrecking our neighbourhoods, say campaigners' Daily Telegraph, 5 February 2007; Jessica Shepherd, 'Hostilities on the home front' Education Guardian, 6 February 2007.

Local Action
The Lobby has been concerned, not only with city-wide planning and housing policy, but also with local policy in NW Leeds. The Lobby has represented the community at meetings of the Shared Housing Group, the PRS Strategy Group and Leeds Housing Partnership.
NORTH WEST DISTRICT
· Representation on the North West District Plan 3 July 2006 (presented to North West District Partnership, 20 July 2006)
· Leeds Left Bank: Strategy & Action Plan July 2006 (presented to North West District Partnership, 20 July 2006)
· Leeds NW District Partnership Conference, 20 July
· A Proposal for a Vision for Inner NW Leeds 6 November 2006 (presented to Area Committee, November 2006)
· Housing Strategy for Area of Housing Mix: Discussion Document 5 February 2007 (presented to Area Committee, 8 February 2007)
SHARED HOUSING GROUP
The Shared Housing Group adopted Shared Housing Action Plan, revised (SHAP2), 20 April, and approved its outcomes, 26 September. The Group received A Strategy for Housing Students in Leeds First Draft, 26 September, which was revised and adopted, 9 January 2007.
· A Strategy for Housing Students in Leeds: Representation on the First Draft of the Strategy October 2006 (presented to the Shared Housing Group, October 2006)
HOUSING
Housing Act 2004, Part 2, Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation, came into effect, 6 April, and LCC’s HMO Public Register [of applications for licences received] begun 29 November.
· Mandatory HMO Licensing Notification Form 03 July 2006 (agreed with LCC HMO Licensing Team, June 2006).
· Representation on 'Making the Housing Ladder Work' 08 January 2007 (presented to Affordable Housing Task Force, December 2006)
PLANNING
Leeds UDP Review, including the new Area of Housing Mix, finally adopted, 19 July 2006.
Local Development Framework:
· City Centre Area Action Plan 3 April 2006 (presented to LCC Development Dept, 26 April 2006)
· Representation on Aire Valley Leeds Area Action Plan June 2006 (presented to Development Department, June 2006)
· Representation on EASEL Area Action Plan July 2006 (presented to Development Department, July 2006)
· Representation on Local Development Framework Core Strategy 8 January 2007 (presented to Development Department, December 2006)
· Representation on West Leeds Gateway Area Action Plan 8 January 2007 (presented to Development Department, December 2006)
Planning applications:
· Objection to application at Headingley Halls, 4 May 2006 (refused).
· Objection to application at 45 St Michael’s Lane, 11 June 2006 (refused, but appealed, which was upheld).
· Representation on Leeds Metropolitan University’s Proposed Development at Headingley Campus 4 December 2006 (presented to Leeds Metropolitan University, January 2007)
· Recommendations on development of Leeds Girls High School sites, 15 January 2007.
UNIPOL
· Unipol 'Where to live' webpage posted, 1 April 2006.
· Green Garden Award presented by Leeds HMO Lobby at Unipol’s Garden Awards, Town Hall, 28 September 2006.

· Media Anna Crossley, 'Shared Housing in Headingley' Look North, BBC1 (Yorkshire), 4 April 2006; Headingley and the Lobby featured in reports in Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds Weekly News.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby, 5 March 2007

^Top

Sixth
ANNUAL REPORT
2006

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns nationally and locally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation.

The HMO Lobby
Leeds HMO Lobby
# Leeds HMO Lobby currently comprises twenty-six local community groups. During the year, two small groups closed, Abbey Gorse and Kirkstall Hill. Lobby representatives have met eleven times, on a regular monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre. Guests have included Harold Best MP & Greg Mulholland MP, Greg Miller (Leeds Uni) & David Collett (Leeds Met), and Andrew Crates & Huw Jones (LCC).
# A new website was launched in March 2005, at <http://hmolobby.org.uk/leeds/index.htm>. Four more issues of Headway have been published, nos 12-15, with a circulation of 2,000; ten members of the Lobby subscribe and circulate the newsletter. One paper has been published, 'Students in the City' The Network: Landlords Accreditation Newsletter West Yorkshire Accreditation, Autumn 2005.
# Income in the sixth year currently amounts to £1,434 (including generous donations from West Park RA and Cllrs Morton and Mulholland) and expenditure was £1,192 (Headway accounted for most of this turnover).
National HMO Lobby
# The National HMO Lobby, set up at the end of 2004, has continued to grow. It was joined by groups in Bath, Bristol, Canterbury, Hatfield, Leicester, London, Newcastle, Nottingham, Southampton and Swansea (and left by Hull), and now comprises forty groups in twenty-eight towns. A Report on its progress was published in November 2005.
# Business is normally conducted by email, but during the year the Scottish groups have held regional meetings, Leeds, Loughborough & Nottingham met in Nottingham, Nottingham visited Leeds, and Liverpool visited Belfast.
# Both Belfast (24 November 2005) and Canterbury (10 February 2006) held local conferences. And the National HMO Lobby was represented at the Universities UK conference, The Engagement of Students and Higher Education Institutions with their Communities in London, 25 January 2006.

National Action
National action is now carried out by the National HMO Lobby. The year has been dominated by the Use Classes Order and the Universities UK report on studentification; the Lobby has also made Representations, and produced Briefing Bulletins and Discussion Documents.
USE CLASSES ORDER
· ODPM, Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 84, The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Order 2005 (21 January 2005) came into effect in April, but with no change to Use Class C3.
· Use Classes Order, representation to Minister for Housing, Planning & Regeneration, Keith Hill MP, 3 March 2005.
· Sustainable Communities, representation to the new Minister for Housing & Planning, Yvette Cooper MP, 10 May.
· Leeds Core City Summit, Meeting the Minister, David Miliband MP, 13 September 2005, followed by correspondence, 15 September, and 18 & 21 November 2005.
UNIVERSITIES UK REPORT
· Briefing meeting with Dr Darren Smith, Nottingham, 2 September 2005.
· Universities UK, Studentification: a guide to opportunities, challenges and practice UUK, London, January 2006: Living in the Shadow of the Ivory Tower, press release, 24 January 2006.
· Universities UK The Engagement of Students and Higher Education Institutions with their Communities Conference, London, 25 January 2006: Report, January 2006.
· Studentification, representation to Minister for Higher Education, Bill Rammell MP, 1 February 2006.
REPRESENTATIONS
· Householder Consents, representation to ODPM, May 2005.
· Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan, representation to DOE, Northern Ireland, September 2005.
· Affordability & the Supply of Housing, representation to Commons Select Committee on ODPM, October 2005.
BRIEFING BULLETINS
· What is a HMO? Briefing Bulletin, March 2005.
· Local HMO Plans Briefing Bulletin, November 2005.
DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS
· Accounting for Sustainability Discussion Document, January 2006.
· Keeping the Peace Discussion Document, January 2006.
· Balanced Communities Discussion Document (in preparation).

· Make Landlords of HMOs Pay Tax, petition launched by Campaign for a Sustainable Canterbury, October 2005.
· Housing Act 2004: HMO Licensing was originally due to be introduced in autumn 2005; Statutory Instruments were laid before Parliament on 22 February 2006, and now come into effect on 6 April 2006.

· Media Leeds and other members of the National HMO Lobby featured in Libby Purves, 'Student Lodgings' The Learning Curve BBC Radio 4 (15 March 2005), Olga Wojtas, 'Residents join to fight student enclaves' THES (22 April 05) [Scotland] [see also Richard Tyler, 'Good neighbours?' (letter) THES (29 April 2005)], Steve Bird, 'Neighbours to shame rave students' The Times (30 June 2005) [Norwich], Joey Gardiner, 'Housing Studies' Regeneration & Renewal (30 September 2005), Laura Clark, 'The student ghettos' Daily Mail (24 January 2006), Donald MacLeod & David Ward, 'Doner your way' EducationGuardian (24 January 2006), Olga Wojtas, 'Report highlights sweet side of student invasion' Times Higher Education Supplement (27 January 2006), Anushka Asthana, 'You can't live here, students told' The Observer (29 January 2006) [Loughborough], also Sarah Campbell, 'Student free zone' Breakfast, BBC1 (31 January 2006) [Loughborough], Jeremy Vine, 'Estate bans students', Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 (31 January 2006) [Loughborough] and Bob Walker, 'There goes the neighbourhood' PM, BBC Radio 4 (6 February 2006).

Local Action
The year has again been dominated by the Leeds UDP Review and by HMO Licensing, and also by the fall and rise of the Shared (Student) Housing Group.
SHARED HOUSING GROUP: LCC’s Student Housing Project Group last met on 6 April 2005, and was not reconvened (as the Shared Housing Group) until November, eight months later; the Lobby represented the community at four meetings.
· Response to Draft SHAP Review 9 May 2005: for presentation to Student Housing Project Group.
· Proposed SHAP2 9 May 2005: presented to Shared Housing Group, 29 November 2005.
· Student Housing Project Group 4 July 2005: presented to Inner NW Area Committee, 30 June 2005.
· Vote of No Confidence in LCC, 5 September 2005.
· Grand Strategy 2 07 November 2005: presented to Student Housing Group, 29 November 2005.
· Shared Housing Group, first (reconstituted) meeting, 29 November 2005.
HOUSING ACT 2004: see above.
· License the Lot! 4 April 2005: presented to Area Committee, 7 April 2005.
· LCC Private Rented Sector Working Group reconvened on 14 April 2005, mainly to consider HMO licensing; the Lobby represented the community at four meetings.
LEEDS UDP REVIEW: the Inspector’s Report on the Public Inquiry was received on 29 November 2005; LCC published its Proposed Modifications on 27 February 2006.
· Leeds UDP Review Inspector's Report: Proposed Revision of Recommendation on Alteration 7/008 05 December 2005: presented to Development Department and Area Committee, 8 December 2005.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
· Area Action Plan for Inner NW Leeds June 2005: presented to Area Committee Planning Group, 7 June 2005.
· Community Involvement 5 September 2005: presented to LCC Development Department, 20 July 2005.
· Kirkstall Road Renaissance 5 September 2005: presented to LCC Development Department, 20 July 2005.
· Community Involvement (revised) 5 December 2005: presented to LCC Development Department, 12 December 2005.

· North West District Action Plan 6 June 2005: presented to NW Area Management Team, May 2005.
· University of Leeds Community Strategy Review 04 July 2005: presented to External Partnerships Manager, University of Leeds, 04 July 2005.
· Meeting the Council Leaders, 15 August 2005.

· Media Headingley and the Lobby featured in reports in Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Weekly News and Leeds Student, and in Ben Flanagan, 'Does anyone get to sleep around here?' The Observer (8 May 2006), Len Tingle, 'A Suburb of the University' The Politics Show, BBC1 (Yorkshire, 12 June 2005), Simon Hoggart, 'Diary', The Guardian (24 September 2005) and Martin Wainwright, 'Locals claim slice of student paradise' Guardian (16 November 2005).

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby
6 March 2006

^ Top

Fifth
ANNUAL REPORT
2005

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns nationally and locally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation.

The HMO Lobby
Leeds HMO Lobby
# During the year, the Lobby was joined by associations in the Highburys, Moor Park, Woodbine Terrace, Gilberts, Foxhill, Moor Grange, Drummonds and Cardigan Triangle, and now comprises some twenty-eight local community groups. Their representatives have met eleven times, on a regular monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre.
# The website will be relaunched in March 2005, now at <http://hmolobby.org.uk/leeds/index.htm>. Four more issues of Headway have been published, with a circulation of 2,000, and the number of participating groups has doubled to ten. Occasional papers have also been published: 'The Plot Thickens' Kirkstall Matters, #86, Mid 2004; 'What the Community Wants' Students, Housing & Community, Conference, Leeds, 22 October 2004; 'Accreditation & the Community' Accreditation Network UK Annual Conference, British Library, London, 10 December 2004.
# Income in the fifth year amounted to £1,406, and expenditure was £1,431 (two major projects accounted for most of this turnover, Headway and the Morley Conference).
National HMO Lobby
# The network was joined by groups in Bath, Durham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and St Andrews, and now comprises 28 groups in 23 towns.
# The network was formally constituted as the National HMO Lobby in November 2004, with a constitution, a regional composition, a national committee, and a co-ordinator. The Lobby launched a new website, online since January 2005, at <http://hmolobby.org.uk/index.htm>
# Leeds attended the London Conference of the Accreditation Network UK on 10 December 2004, and presented a paper on ‘Accreditation & the Community’.

National Action
The year has again been dominated by the progress of the new Housing Act.
· ODPM, Housing Bill, House of Commons: Report Stage & Third Reading (11 May 2004); House of Lords: First Reading (13 May 2004), Second Reading (7 June 2004), Committee Stage (20 July ff 2004), Report Stage (13 October 2004) and Third Reading (3 November 2004); Royal Assent (18 November 2004): continuous lobbying.
· Minister for HE, Alan Johnson, ‘Universities mean Business’: response to Minister, 19 February 2004.
· Education Secretary, ‘Widening participation in HE’: response to Minister, 5 March 2004.
· Kate Barker, Delivering Stability: response to Minister for Housing, 19 March 2004.
· Discussion Document, Local Study, 5 April 2004.
· Egan Review, Skills for Sustainable Communities: response to Sir John Egan, 27 April 2004.
· ODPM, Planning Policy Statement 1, Creating Sustainable Communities: response to Minister for Planning, 10 May 2004.
· Unipol, Students, Housing & Community, Conference, Morley Town Hall, 22 October 2004: ‘What the Community Wants’ and ‘Students in the Community’.
· Meeting with Caroline Spellman, Shadow Minister for Local Government, Leeds, 6 December 2004.
· ODPM, Consultation on the Implementation of HMO Licensing: response to ODPM, February 2005.
· ODPM and others, Students & Community: response to Survey, February 2005.
· Media Leeds and other members of the national network featured in Economist (22 May), Daily Mail (22 May), Observer (22 August), Independent (9 September), Guardian (2 October), Independent (21 October) and Guardian (11 & 18 January 2005), and on Radio 5 (22 May), Radio 4 (You & Yours, 4 June), BBC3 (News, 9 June), Channel 4 (News, 10 July), Radio 4 (You & Yours, 3 November) and Radio 5 (28 November, twice).

Local Action
The year has again been dominated by the Leeds UDP Review; in addition, the CIT has been superseded by the Area Committee, and the Lobby has held meetings with the Council and the universities.
· LCC Private Rented Sector Strategic Working Group has ceased to meet.
· LCC Student Housing Project Group (responsible for implementing Shared Housing Action Plan): the Lobby represented the community at five meetings (April, June, Sept, Nov, Jan).
· LCC Inner NW Area Committee: submitted proposals on Stemming the Tide, Leeds Left Bank, and Kept in the Community.
· Representations on the Revised Deposit of the Review of the Leeds Unitary Development Plan, 1 March 2004: presented to the Leeds UDP Review, 9 March 2004.
· Diversity Zone, 1 March 2004: presented to Leeds UDP Review, 9 March 2004.
· University of Leeds Housing Strategy, 5 April 2004: presented to Student Housing Project Group, 20 April 2004.
· Students in the City, 5 April 2004: presented to Student Housing Project Group, 20 April 2004.
· LCC Elections 2004: canvassed Headingley Ward candidates, April 2004.
· Leeds UDP Review Position Statement, 5 July 2004: presented to Public Inquiry on Leeds UDP Review, 7 September 2004
· Stemming the Tide, 5 July 2004: submitted to Area Committee, 6 July 2004, presented to LCC Leaders, 2 August 2004.
· Meeting the Council Leaders, 2 August 2004.
· Leeds UDP Review, Round Table Session on ‘Student Housing’, 7 & 9 September 2004: presented Position Statement.
· Shared Housing Action Plan Review, 4 October 2004: presented to SHAP Review Project Leader & Manager, 5 October 2004.
· Leeds' Left Bank, 1 November 2004: presented to Area Committee, 9 December 2004.
· University of Leeds Housing Strategy: Private Rented Sector, 6 December 2004: presented to Vice Chancellor, University of Leeds, 21 December 2004
· Meeting the Vice Chancellors, 21 December 2004.
· Kept in the Community, 7 Feb 2005: presented to Inner NW Area Committee, 17 February 2005

· Media Headingley and the Lobby featured in reports on Look North, Radio Aire and BBC1 (Inside Out), and in reports in Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Weekly News, and Leeds Student.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby
7 March 2005

^ Top

Fourth
ANNUAL REPORT
2004

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns nationally and locally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation.

The HMO Lobby
Leeds HMO Lobby # During the year, the Lobby was joined by FROG (Orville Gardens) & St Chad's RA, and now comprises some twenty local community groups. Their representatives have met eleven times, on a regular monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre.
# The website continues to expand. Four issues of Headway have been published by five member organisations, now in A3 folded format. Occasional papers have also been published: 'A New Chapter?' Kirkstall Matters, #82, Early 2003; 'Memorandum by Leeds HMO Lobby' in House of Commons, ODPM Committee, The Draft Housing Bill: Written Evidence (HC 751-II) The Stationery Office, London, 2003; 'Students & Community' Student Housing Project Group, Leeds City Council, September 2003; 'The Latest Episode' Kirkstall Matters, #85, Early 2004.
# Income in the fourth year amounted to £1756, and expenditure was £1567 (two major projects accounted for most of this turnover, Headway and the Unipol survey).
National HMO Lobby # The national lobby adopted 'Aims & Objectives' (for the delegation to Westminster) in October 2003.
# The network was joined by groups in Belfast, Coleraine, Glasgow, Plymouth, Southampton & York (2), and now comprises 24 groups in 18 towns.
# Leeds attended the Birmingham Conference of the National HMO Network on 11 June 2003, and has joined the national Network Of Residents Associations.

National Action
The year has been dominated by the progress of the new Housing Bill.
# ODPM, Draft Housing Bill (31 March 2003): response to consultation, 12 May 2003 (submitted also to the ODPM Select Committee).
# ODPM, Minister for Housing, Planning & Regeneration, Keith Hill appointed, 13 June 2003: welcomed, 19 August 2003 [the fourth in four years!].
# National Conference on Studentification: proposed, 1 September; endorsed by LCC & Unipol, 10 September 2003.
# ODPM, Local Government Finance review: lobby of Minister for Local & Regional Government (Nick Raynsford) regarding HMO taxation, 28 October 2003.
# Houses of Parliament, Queen's Speech, 26 November 2003: lobby for inclusion of Housing Bill (successfully), 6 October 2003.
# ODPM, Housing Bill, First Reading (8 December 2003), Second Reading (12 January 2004) & Committee Stage (20 January - 24 February 2004): continuous lobbying.
# Nottingham South, Meeting the Minister: joint delegation to Westminster with Nottingham council & community, 12 February 2004.
# ODPM, Planning Policy Statement 1, Creating Sustainable Communities: response to Minister for Planning, 25 February 2004.
# Media Leeds and other members of the national network featured in 'Town & Gown' series, Times Higher Education Supplement August 2003

Local Action
The year has been dominated by the Leeds UDP Review; in addition, the CIT has taken new initiatives, and the Lobby has held meetings with the Council, the universities and Unipol.
# LCC Private Rented Sector Strategic Working Group: represented the community at three meetings.
# LCC Student Housing Project Group (responsible for implementing Shared Housing Action Plan): represented the community at seven meetings, presenting proposals on transport and licensing.
# LCC Headingley, Kirkstall & Weetwood Community Involvement Team: on proposals of the Lobby, established Headingley Centre Strategy Group (now developing the Strategy), Community & HE Forum, and Planning Group, and appointed CIT Project Planner.
# Unipol Environmental Survey: accepted commission, 3 March 2003.
# Campus by Bus, 3 March 2003: presented to Student Housing Project Group 24 February 2003
# University of Leeds, Draft Housing Strategy: response, 3 April; attended briefing, 8 December 2003.
# LCC Elections 2003: canvassed Headingley Ward candidates, April 2003.
# Licensing HMOs in Headingley, 12 May 2003: presented to Student Housing Project Group 15 May 2003
# LCC UDP Review, First Deposit (24 June 2003): fourteen Representations, 7 July 2003.
# Diversity Zone, 1 September 2003, revised 9 February 2004 [for UDP Review].
# Meeting Leeds Met, 29 September 2003.
# Meeting Unipol: presentation by Martin Blakey, 6 October 2003.
# Meeting the Council Leaders, 20 October 2003.
# Meeting the PVC, 10 November 2003.
# ASHORE Amenity Audit [for UDP Review] 1 December 2003: endorsed by CIT, 10 December 2003.
# Community Code, 1 December 2003: endorsed by CHEF, 28 January 2004.
# LCC UDP Review, Revised Deposit (3 February 2004): seven Representations, 1 March 2004.
# Media The Lobby featured in reports on Look North, BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio York and Magic 828, and in reports in Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Weekly News, and Leeds Student.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby
1 March 2004

^ Top

Third
ANNUAL REPORT
2003

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns nationally and locally for action on concentrations of shared houses, or houses in multiple occupation.

HMO Lobby
Leeds Lobby # At the end of its third year, the membership of the Lobby comprises nineteen local community groups, some well-established & others new, some large & others small, some formally constituted & others more informal. Their representatives have met eleven times, on a regular monthly basis (normally first Monday of the month), at the Cardigan Centre.
# The website has steadily expanded. In July, we began publishing Headway, a collective quarterly newsletter informing residents on 'the way we're heading in Headingley.' Occasional papers have also been published: 'Making Headway' Leeds Civic Trust Newsletter, October 2002; 'The impact of HMOs' Yorks Region HMO Working Group, Leeds, 5 Nov 2002; 'The story so far' Kirkstall Matters, #81, Late 2002; 'Community & Accreditation' Accreditation Network UK Conference, London, 6 Dec 2002.
# Income hitherto in the third year is £654 (CIT grants, subscriptions, payments), and expenditure is £522 (hire of mailbox and rooms, purchase of stamps and stationery, printing Headway); Headway costs have been funded by payments by participating associations and a CIT grant.
National Lobby # We have made new contacts in Cardiff, Coventry, St Anne's and Sheffield; we visited Nottingham on 17 October; and we attended the London Conference of the National HMO Network, 21 November 2002.

National Action
The major achievement this year was the government's promise in the Queen's Speech of a draft Housing Bill. # DTLR, Use Classes Order (January 2002): response to consultation, 15 April 2002.
# Des Turner MP, Home Energy Conservation Bill, Report Stage, 10 May 2002: lobbied the Minister, 17 April 2002 (but talked out, and withdrawn, 17 July 2002).
# Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (new department): welcomed new Minister for Housing, Planning & Regeneration, Lord Rooker, 31 May 2002.
# Shelter, Private Renting (report on Modernising the Private Rented Sector): critical response, 10 June 2002.
# HEFCE Conference (1 April 2002): response to Chief Executive, Sir Howard Newby, 5 September 2002.
# Leeds NW, Meeting the Minister (15 February 2002): booklet of addresses to Lord Falconer, September 2002 (supplied to his successor).
# Queen's Speech, 13 November 2002: lobbied the Minister, the DPM, local MPs, for definition, licensing & regulation of HMOs, October 2002; a draft Housing Bill is promised.
# ODPM, Approved Code of Practice for Management Standards for HMOs: University of Warwick, Questionnaire, October, and Regional Workshop, Sheffield, 5 December 2002.
# ODPM, Housing Bill (forthcoming): lobbied civil servants, 10 December 2002.
# Ministers of Housing and of Higher Education, meeting (tba): lobbied both ministers, 27 December 2002.
# Media The Lobby featured in Jimmy Young Show, BBC Radio 2, 23 July 2002, and in 'Hell of residence' The Times 4 December 2002.

Local Action
The year has been dominated by efforts to implement the Shared Housing Action Plan (adopted at the beginning of 2002), culminating with the UDP Review proposals for Headingley.
# LCC Private Rented Sector Strategic Working Group: represented the community at three meetings, questioned the Leeds Housing Strategy.
# LCC Student Housing Project Group (responsible for implementing Shared Housing Action Plan): represented the community at seven meetings, presented proposals on SHAPE, Grand Strategy, SHAP Implementation, Settlements and transport.
# LCC Landlord Accreditation Scheme: represented the community at five meetings, introduced a Tenant Code and a Community Dimension to this and the revised Landlord Code.
# SHAPE (Shared Housing Action Plan Enterprise) 4 March 2002: adopted by CIT, 19 March 2002 (funding agreed, 28 May).
# Grand Strategy, 8 April 2002: presented to SHPG, 29 April 2002.
# Local Council Election, 2 May 2002: Headingley Ward candidates canvassed, April 2002.
# Property Agents' Signboards: response to consultation, 14 & 24 May 2002; lobbied ODPM, 20 October 2002.
# Development Control in Headingley, 1 July 2002: presented to Cllr Moxon, Chair of DCP(W) at the Lobby, 1 July 2002.
# SHAP Implementation, July 2002: presented to SHPG, 11 July 2002; CIT Task Groups adopted by CIT, 30 July 2002.
# Community Dimension, 7 October 2002: presented to Landlord Accreditation Scheme, 16 October 2002.
# Student Settlements, November 2002: presented to SHPG, 1 November 2002, and to G Betts, City & Regional Manager, University of Leeds, at the Lobby, 6 January 2003.
# Leeds Housing Strategy, 6 January 2003: presented to PRS SWG, 20 January 2003.
# UDP Review, 3 February 2003: submitted to Director of Planning, February 2003.
# Media The Lobby featured in Breakfast Show, BBC Radio Leeds, 17 April, and again 1 November 2002, and in Good Morning BBC Radio Leeds, 4 Feb 2003; and has received coverage in the local press, including Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Weekly News, North Leeds Post and Leeds Student, on issues including letting boards, Lobby policies, new developments and enforcements, and studentification.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby
3 March 2003

^ Top

Second
ANNUAL REPORT
2002

Leeds HMO Lobby represents community associations in Leeds, and campaigns nationally and locally for legislation on houses in multiple occupation.

Constitution In its second year, some members of the Lobby have lapsed, and others have joined: the upshot is that the membership remains at eighteen member groups. Their representatives have met ten times, on a regular monthly basis, at the Cardigan Centre. Our website was launched in May. Income in the second year was £185 (from donations and subscriptions), and expenditure was £236 (on hire of mailbox and rooms, and on stamps and stationery); fortunately we had some funds in hand.

National Action
# National Network · Active development of the network has waned (though contacts have increased to nine, in Birmingham, Hull, Lincoln, Loughborough, Manchester, Nottingham, Scarborough, Sheffield and Southampton); a delegation from Birmingham visited us in October.
· However, the Lobby has also made contact with other campaigning organisations who share our objectives, including Shelter's Campaign for Bedsit Rights, the National HMO Network, and the Gateshead Campaign for a Licensing Scheme for Private Landlords (and also, in the USA, Families & Students Living in a College Town).
# National Lobby We have lobbied nationally on several issues. Our main achievement is that the issue of HMOs in university towns is now securely on the government's agenda.
· Queen's Speech, 20 June 2001: lobbied the Minister, for Licensing of HMOs, 12 June 2001.
· Shelter Commission, Modernising the Private Rented Sector, Summer 2001ff: wrote to Lord Best (Chair), on impact of HMOs, 24 August 2001; and addressed its visit to Leeds, 21 September 2001.
· DTLR, Selective Licensing of Private Landlords, 20 October 2001: responded to consultation, 13 December 2001.
· HEFCE, Supply and Demand in Higher Education, October 2001: lobbied Minister to retain cap on student numbers, 11 December 2001; responded to HEFCE consultation on student numbers, 20 January 2002.
· Des Turner MP, Home Energy Conservation Bill, second reading 30 November 2001: lobbied the Minister and Leeds MPs to support the Bill, 31 October 2001; lobbied Harold Best, at Committee Stage, to resist government amendments, 1 February 2002.
· DTLR, Use Classes Order, January 2002: lobbied Minister for changes, 11 December 2002; response to consultation in preparation.
· Unipol Conference, Students & Community, 7-8 February 2002: invited to address the Conference, which was however cancelled due to lack of support.
· Leeds NW, Meeting the Minister, 15 February 2002: members addressed Lord Falconer, invited to Leeds NW by Harold Best MP.

Local Action Leeds HMO Lobby has continued strategic action locally. Within Council policy-making, we have helped to set the agenda on HMOs.
· HMO Working Group: presented proposals for Student Accommodation Strategy Management (14 May 2001), at the meeting on 21 June 2001; but the same meeting dissolved the Group (without ever having considered HMOs). The Lobby pressed Planning to expedite restrictions on Property Agents' Signboards (19 February 2002), initiated by the Group.
· Private Rented Sector (PRS) Strategic Review
· The Lobby has represented the local community at the PRS Strategic Working Group, and on its three Project Groups (Code of Standards, Student Housing, Legislative Developments).
· The Lobby has introduced a Tenant Code (March 2001)and a Community Dimension (April 2001)to the Code PG; it has initiated debate on a HMO Registration Scheme (November 2001) at the Legislative Developments PG; and at the PRS SWG itself, it has achieved changes to the Project Group structure (Low Demand Housing replacing Leg Dev).
· The Lobby has produced two responses to the draft Report on Shared Housing in Leeds (July, October 2001) and a Community Perspective for the final report (January 2002); this was appended to the final Report by the PRS SWG, and formed the basis for amendments to its Action Plan.
· Media · National: The Lobby featured in You & Yours, Radio 4, 30 November 2001.
· Local: The Lobby has received coverage in the local press, including Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Weekly News, North Leeds Weekly Post and Leeds Student, on issues including landlords & housing, community & crime, University developments, road safety, student recruitment, signboards, the HEC Bill, the Birmingham visit, and the Shared Housing Report.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby
4 March 2002

^ Top

First
ANNUAL REPORT
2001

What has become Leeds HMO Lobby was agreed upon at a meeting of local community associations convened by South Headingley Community Association on 24 February 2000, to consider developing grassroots support for the campaign by Harold Best, MP for Leeds NW, for legislation on the licensing of houses in multiple occupation.

Constitution The first meeting of Leeds HMO Lobby on 29 February comprised representatives of nine community associations in NW Leeds. Since then, the Lobby has adopted a constitution (1 April 2000), it has met fourteen times, and it has doubled in size to eighteen member groups. It has a mailbox (at the Cardigan Centre), an email address, and a website is under construction. The Lobby has a bank account (with National Westminster Bank); income in the first year was £325 (from donations and subscriptions), and expenditure was £135 (on hire of mailbox and rooms, and on stamps, stationery and photocopying).

National Action

One of Leeds HMO Lobby's objectives is to develop a national network of community associations in towns around the country who share its concerns over HMOs. Progress in doing so has proved to be slow and onerous. Nevertheless, the Lobby is now in touch with a network of associations in Birmingham, Hull, Loughborough, Manchester, Nottingham, Scarborough, Sheffield and Southampton, with other contacts in Canterbury, London and Oxford.

Together with its member organisations and its national contacts, Leeds HMO Lobby has lobbied the government to introduce legislation on the licensing of HMOs.

Member organisations had already responded to the DETR Consultation Paper Licensing of HMOs, April 1999.
The Lobby itself came into existence to support the Early Day Motion in Parliament on HMO licensing, tabled by Harold Best MP on 11 January 2000.
The Lobby responded to the DETR Housing Green Paper Quality & Choice, April 2000.
In the summer of 2000, the Lobby compiled a Petition of several hundred signatures in support of licensing of HMOs.
The Lobby responded to the address by Nick Raynsford MP, Housing Minister, on 'Working for Standards, Safety & Co-operation in Student Accommodation' at the Unipol Conference Students in the Community, London, 27 October 2000.
In October, the Lobby urged the Housing Minister to press for the inclusion of legislation on Licensing of HMOs in the Queen's Speech (unsuccessfully).
Meanwhile, in the House of Commons, in an Adjournment Debate on HMOs on 8 November, Chris Mullin (DETR) said 'we encourage … local authorities setting up their own licensing system'; and in response to a speech by Harold Best on HMOs on 12 December, Mo Mowlam repeated the government's commitment to legislation. The DETR Policy Statement on Housing, 13 December, affirmed that 'We remain committed to introducing a compulsory licensing system for HMOs.'
Finally, the Lobby helped Harold Best to co-ordinate a meeting of local residents of Leeds NW with the Housing Minister, 22 February 2001, in Headingley.

Local Action Leeds HMO Lobby's original remit was for national action. However, its strategic position has enabled it to intervene at a local level.

The Lobby has prepared a Diagnosis of Headingley (May 2000), a table of Issues Arising from HMOs in Headingley (December 2000) and a graph of The Demographics of Headingley (January 2001).
The Lobby has presented to Leeds City Council's HMO Working Group a proposal for a Student Accommodation Strategy (September 2000) and a proposal for a HMO Registration Scheme (January 2001).
The Lobby's national and local action has received coverage in the local press, including Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Weekly News and North Leeds Weekly Post.
Finally, in February 2001, the Lobby was invited to represent the local community in the Council's Private Rented Sector Review, including its working groups on Student Housing, on the Council's Code of Standards for the PRS, and on the Housing Green Paper.

(Dr) Richard Tyler, Co-ordinator, Leeds HMO Lobby
5 March 2001

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Leeds HMO Lobby
email: hmolobby@hotmail.com website: www.hmolobby.org.uk/leeds