Houses in Multiple Occupation Supplementary Planning Document

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) provide a form of low-cost housing, particularly for younger people and people on low incomes. They also provide flexible accommodation for people with short-term housing requirements. This includes people in-between properties, people employed on short-term contracts and people who are saving to purchase a home. They also provide housing for people that simply prefer to live with large numbers of other people.

Experience has shown that an over concentration of HMOs can have an unacceptable impact on the positive residential character of areas due to issues such as:

• Noise and nuisance
• Imbalanced and unsustainable communities, with higher levels of transience and less sustainable local services
• Pressures upon parking provision
• Increased levels of crime in the local area
• Growth in the private rented sector at the expense of owner-occupation

A Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) relating to HMOs was adopted by Salford City Council with effect from 4 June 2024.

The purpose of the SPD is to better manage the provision of new HMOs throughout Salford by providing a threshold to guide the location of them. It has been prepared to supplement policies in the Salford: Local Plan: Development Management Policies and Designations (SLP:DMP), including policy H10. The SPD is a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. 

The SPD, consultation statement and adoption notice can be downloaded below. In addition a screening report relating to strategic environmental assessment and habitats regulations assessment can be downloaded.

This page was last updated on 6 June 2024