Written evidence submitted by Anonymous [EXA 023]

“ Unfortunately it appears to be an ongoing problem in this area,  a lot of the surrounding properties are bedsits that are frequently vacated and in the  main it appears to be both local residents/owners of these properties are responsible” Council officer, 2020

Report to Select Committee re Westminster Rd Area

Question One: What is wrong with EA as a means of providing supported housing for vulnerable people and groups?

From the point of view of anyone who needs housing with support, there are many, many problems with Exempt Accommodation, as I personally see every day when, for instance, an emaciated resident is begging on the street, rapidly going downhill for lack of support, or others tell me of the lack of facilities for cooking or washing.  But as I believe other respondents will be focusing on these aspects, my evidence concerns what is wrong with Exempt Accommodation in terms of how it is destroying whole neighbourhoods and upsetting the balance between people in need of support and those who are able to give it. And I hope members will be willing to consider these external effects of the current system as well as the effects on the people housed in this way. I am writing in detail about the neighbourhood in which I live, hoping you will see it as representative of many others.

I have lived happily in the Westminster Rd area of Handsworth for many years.  Until quite recently, it was a clean, friendly area where everyone cared.   The extra evidence below is to help you understand the impact that all forms of multi-occupied houses have had on the area. These include exempt accommodation, licensed HMOs and many properties of uncertain status.  This report is my evidence of what we have endured, the mental strain and the time and costs in trying to get action and how National and Local government and systems have up to now failed to protect us all, both the permanent residents and the people, including children, in the EA or HMOs.

I am covering in detail two main topics that impact on the neighbourhood: 1) Rubbish; 2) Unplanned, uncontrolled, growth of multi-occupied houses, leading to the flight of ordinary families and unbalanced neighbourhoods no longer able to sustain neighbourly care. This leads to the need for a change in planning rules and enforcement. But I also list on page 6 some of the many other factors.

At the end are some suggestions for how some change might be quickly achieved.

1)  Never-ending rubbish in the streets

I must stress that throughout the Covid period the ordinary bin-men have done a heroic job, risking infection to empty the bins week in week out.    The rubbish I am talking about is the dumping of furniture and the use and dumping of black bags where no proper payment for sufficient bins has been made.  In July 2020 a council officer said in an email:

“ Unfortunately it appears to be an ongoing problem in this area,  a lot of the surrounding properties are bedsits that are frequently vacated and in the  main it appears to be both local residents/ owners of these properties that are responsible.”

In the same month, my neighbour told me that she was leaving at the end of August.   The rubbish and filth were just driving her mad, she told me.   And the stress of living with it and of trying to get it removed are shown in this sample log of messages I have sent to the council, asking for action

Messages sent to councillors and/or council officers covering five weeks in 2020.  

July 22nd 2020 A huge amount of fly tipping.    Beds, carpets, broken furniture, household rubbish etc are blocking a pedestrian subway which allows safe crossing over the Birchfield Road.   There are also 2 fridges dumped outside number *** blocking the pavement.    July 25th  The 2 fridges are still outside ***, on the pavement, and there is now another outside ***, on the pavement.  Plus ***, has also put out furniture on the pavement since my last e.mail. We have also been waiting 7 months for a large American style fridge to be removed from the corner of Havelock Road, and Livingstone Road, 

July 27th  There is yet another fridge on the pavement outside number ***, Haughton Road  It has probably been dumped by number ***, which is an HMO.  There is a very large shop or supermarket fridge blocking the entire pavement outside *** Willmore Road. There is one more fridge on the corner of Stamford Road and Hutton Road.  The people who are fly tipping and dumping know they can keep doing it and getting away with it.   Because the city is just not listening.

Aug 1st  Once again there is a large pile of black rubbish bags, outside number ***, Church

Hill Road.  Why should the dustmen be expected to remove this every week?  And as it is on the pavement, it is also a hazard to pedestrians A satellite dish has now been fitted.  Maybe Umbrella Housing Ltd are hoping it will eat the rubbish.  

Sept 7th Update on *** Church Hill Rd. the owners were refused planning permission but are still just carrying on without a care in the world. There are now even more black bags full of rubbish on the pavement from this property.   Why do the owners of this property think this is where the rubbish goes? Where is waste enforcement?

In January 2022  there is a new problem: number ***, Haughton Road, is unlicensed and is now overrun with cockroaches, which are spreading from house to house.

The issue here is that EA landlords seem to think that their status of being exempt from rent cap limits makes them also exempt from all the HMO regulations that might insist on proper arrangements for removal of waste and large items, and our local Council has largely accepted this.

The providers are being paid large sums of public money to cover their extra outlay on housing, yet are still draining the local authority resources because they do not pay properly to have the waste products of their businesses removed.

2.              Unplanned, uncontrolled, unknown growth, leading to the flight of ordinary families and unbalanced neighbourhoods no longer able to sustain neighbourly care.

Following cuts to local authority spending, Birmingham’s Private Sector team is much too small for the many responsibilities they bear and they have said in public that they know that even the register of HMOs  is not up-to date or complete. There are just 6 housing specialist Environmental Health Officers for a city of one million people. This means that referring to the register is of limited value. In two case studies here, Select Committee members can see for themselves what the additional, unregistered scale of the problem is in just two streets. As I cannot be sure which are exempt accommodation (EA) and which are ordinary houses in multi occupation (HMOs), I will use the term multi occupied to include all. 

Case study one: Haughton Rd.

This tree lined cul-de-sac, situated between Birchfield Road, and Westminster Road, is the only road in the area with lovely mature trees in it.  At the bottom of the road is a pre-school nursery.

*** Haughton Road is facing the nursery and is a huge multi-occupied property with so called ‘bungalows’ at the rear.  This property is rat infested, with household rubbish everywhere, including fridges, and a huge amount of rubbish at the front of the property which has been there a long time. The impact and the health implications for people living at number ***, and local people are huge.  The many children who live there have nowhere to play.   The owners of this property trade as Global Enterprises. I have phoned them several times about the rubbish but get the same reply every time: ‘It's the council’s problem.’   I believe referrals to this property are made by Birmingham City Council.  The property is listed on the land registry as being 6 flats.  However, there might be more than this. This property has no planning permission. In Jan 2022 the rubbish has just finally been cleared after two years of repeated requests but cockroaches have now spread here too.

*** Haughton Rd:  another multi-occupied house, is in very poor condition.  It seems to be occupied by single working men.  The owner or owners are not known. There is no planning permission. *** Haughton Road.  This property is a well-kept family home.  However at the side of the property is a locked gate which leads to the rear garden.  In the garden there is a so-called bungalow which is rented out.  At the moment it is rented to a family with a child.  You cannot see this property from Haughton Road, but you can from the rear of the property which is situated in Apollo Way.  There is no planning permission. .*** Haughton Road, is a multi-occupied property with a large rear extension. The owners live in Templemore Drive Great Barr, . There is no planning permission.  It is mainly young women who live here, sometimes with children.  *** Haughton Road is again multi-occupied. There seems to be a lot of people living at this address: mainly men.  There is no planning permission.

Recently there has been an additional huge problem with sewerage in this road.  Seven Trent Water have been working for weeks to find the problem. It seems it could be something to do with buildings located in gardens, which owners have constructed without permission, to house yet more vulnerable people under the umbrella of exempt accommodation.

Case study two : Livingstone Rd area

Livingstone Road runs from Westminster Road to Birchfield Road, with a small development of houses built in the 1970s known as Apollo Way.  These are family homes.  The houses in Livingstone Road, are Georgian and Victorian, well-built lovely homes. The houses occupied by families are mostly very well kept.  

Then we have the houses that are being used as EA, HMOs, Hostels, etc.    

Number ***, used to belong to Midland Heart H. A.  it was sold at auction in Liverpool It is now run as a Multi Occupied House , without planning permission.  The people running number ***, are **********. Their office has no planning permission.  Number ***, was a large HMO without planning permission.  The police closed this property down after a stabbing at the property.  At the time of the stabbing 32 people were living there.  The owner has now died and the property is in probate. At the moment it is boarded up, with rubbish fly-tipped at the front of the property. Number ***. Has been used in the last few years to grow cannabis but seems empty at present.  Number ***, is another multi-occupied house without planning permission.  It is not known who owns it or how many people live there. Number *** has recently had work carried out to the property and added what is known in the area as a ‘bungalow’ in the garden. Number ***,  Havelock Road, is the family home of a family who own  ***, Haughton Road, .  They own a lot of property in the area besides the one they live in, including : ***, ***, & ***, Westminster Road, all multi-occupied and all without planning permission,  ***, Livingstone Road, and ***, Havelock Road, which is also a HMO  and  it seems many more in the area. The company is  known as ***************.

They also have a ‘bungalow’ in the front garden at number ***, Havelock Road, with no planning permission , and it has been occupied but is currently empty.   Number ***, Livingstone Road is a double-fronted corner property with a very large back garden which is totally overgrown. There seems to be a big turnover of people at this property and there are always children living there. No planning permission: owner unknown.

Abuse and evasion of planning controls is widespread. The property known as Grand Square Central.  has planning permission as student accommodation . However it is now being used to house families with children, single people with children, and people with addiction problems .Over 50 people.  Planning permission was obtained under false pretences.  The building was only supposed to house students, and there were also to be amenities for local people to use, which has never happened.  So the terms of the planning permission have never been fulfilled.  However there is no sign of action from the planning department.  

3. There are many, many more issues I could raise:

• Impact on schools,. Local schools are having to struggle with rapid turnover of transient pupils, who are housed in the EA properties but then moved out again. This is clearly very serious for both the settled children and those who are having to change schools
• Noise . Noise from parties, often in the street, or quarrelling followed by the arrival of police and ambulances is a distressing problem in once quiet family neighbourhoods.
• Crime. As the Chief Inspector of Police for the West Midlands has repeatedly reported, crimes of every kind from drug dealing to human trafficking and murder are being concentrated in these properties .
• Fear. Older residents and parents of young people and children feel afraid of some of the residents of EA, and distressed by those who beg. But they also fear reprisals from the owners of the properties if they complain.
• Risk to young people re drug peddling,
• Costs of policing and ambulance call-outs
• Impact on the local housing market, where family purchasers have been squeezed out by the prices that investors hoping to make good profits  will pay for a house they can let by the room at a high price .
• the increased likelihood of Covid infection combined with people not being registered with a GP, and pressure on GPs

Question Three: How should EA be reformed and/or replaced as a means of provision?

• I really think all of these properties should be treated as HMOs, and must have planning permission before anyone can move in and more importantly before any claim can be made for housing benefit.  There is no reason why they should be exempt from planning controls.
  These requirements (it is a simple clarification, really) need to come from Central Government
• Every local authority should be required and empowered to keep an register of Exempt Accommodation properties, listed alphabetically by road and open to public inspection in the same way as  the register of electors.
• This register could be used by HMRC to check that appropriate tax is being paid by those receiving the Housing Benefit payments.

• A good, simple point would be to require proper provision and payment for waste collection from the owners of all multi-occupied houses . At present it is common for providers or landlords to require one of the licensees or tenants to be registered as the person liable for council tax .
• Instead they should be classed as a business and pay business rates and pay for trade waste collection.  .After all they are making more money than a lot of small businesses which are struggling to survive.

• All of these properties, whichever city they are in, should be inspected by an E.H.O. and passed as suitable for occupation before any Housing Benefit is paid. There need to be regular random inspections.
• People in need of support should be given be proper support, not a phone call once a week.
• As Birmingham has more than any other city: 20% of the numbers in the country as a whole, it is obvious some of them will need to be closed down.
• None of them should be in a road, or street, where there is a school, and there should be no exceptions to this rule. Whichever city it is.
• There needs to be careful investigation to remove any ‘ghost tenants’ where landlords are claiming benefit for people who are not living there.