A council has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement praising its own policies on private rental sector HMOs. 

Portsmouth council says it is “proud to be one of a small minority of local authorities in England that has taken decisive action to manage the growth of HMOs through robust local legal restrictions and planning policies.”

A spokesperson for the authority says: “Portsmouth remains at the forefront nationally in using every available tool to responsibly manage HMO growth and ensure safe, high-quality living standards for residents. Senior officers from the council have met with the government’s Chief Planning Officer and the Planning Inspectorate. No issues were raised about our approach to HMOs.”

Local buy to let operators in the Portsmouth & District Private Landlords Association (PDPLA), which has been at odds with the council – especially over how many HMOs there actually are in the city.

A statement posted two weeks ago by the PDPLA says: “Portsmouth City Council’s long-standing estimate of 6,000 Houses in Multiple Occupation in the city has been turned on its head by the council’s own licensing records. Latest figures show less than half the 4,309 HMOs recorded five years ago and far fewer than the oft-quoted figure of 6,000.”

There has also been concern about the accuracy of entries on the council database, with a more recent post from the PDPLA urging members to help improve its accuracy, saying: “We would really like to help the Council get it as accurate as possible so do check any of your properties against the list and any HMOs that you know of (or properties that were but are not anymore).  After years of the HMO register on PCC’s website being grossly out of date, [council departments] have combined their data sets into a newly updated online data table.” 

But the council has kicked back against criticism with its own statement issued this week saying: “While national legislation allows new HMOs to be created without planning permission, Portsmouth has enforced a city-wide policy since 2012 that controls new HMOs, preventing these from exceeding 10% of residential properties within a 360 degree 50-metre radius. 

“The Council also has an online register of licensed HMOs and those with planning permission to address unlicensed HMOs. This is one of the strictest HMO control regimes in the country and has been consistently upheld.”