Dot Laird, 81, bought her home on Second Avenue, Fazakerley in 1971. She now lives sandwiched between two houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) after the adjoining properties were bought up by a developer.
Speaking to the ECHO, Ms Laird said she is fearful to leave her home and is “dreading” what may come next. New policies introduced by Liverpool Council will come too late to help her, she said.
Local plan promises limits on HMOs
Setting out the direction of the city over the next 15 years, Liverpool Council's local plan, launched last month, seeks to restrict HMOs to 10% of neighbourhood areas, retain family dwellings, and prevent homes from being “sandwiched” by shared occupancy properties. The plan aims to stop situations like Ms Laird's from happening in future.
According to data compiled by the authority’s Labour group, 260 applications for HMOs have been rejected since 2021.
“It’s like living on a building site”
Ms Laird, widowed since 2008, said her ordeal began when a man knocked on her door last year. She said: “I’m getting completely and utterly sandwiched in. A lad knocked on my door last year and said he was the new neighbour.
“He asked permission at first to take the chimney down and I was actually delighted people were moving in. Three months later, I found out what it was.
“There’s an extension been put in the back and it’s been like living with a pneumatic drill constantly going off and the muck it’s caused. In January this year, more new people have moved in, you can’t build relationships.”
At one point during the works, she found a three foot deep hole in the alleyway next to her home that she was told “was dug in the wrong place.” She said the physical changes to the property have made trying to take her bins out almost impossible.
She added: “Most of us have been in the avenue most of our lives. I haven’t got that either side of me anymore. I don’t know what the future will bring.
“It’s like living on a building site. I don’t go out anymore because I don’t know what I’m coming back to.
“The council need to sit up and take notice that there’s people living here whose lives are being turned upside down. I thought losing my husband was a lot.”
Ms Laird also revealed she had been approached to sell her home to make way for another HMO, adding: “Who would want to live here with two of these either side?”
Council admits records unclear
In its response to a question on HMOs, the city council said that in many cases there is not a clear record of when a property changed from a single family home to an alleged HMO. This is because there is no single definition of an HMO across housing and planning legislation, and historically property owners may not have sought permission for an HMO use.
Since June 2021, an Article 4 directive has been in place restricting the conversion of single dwellings into HMOs. It was introduced in areas where HMO numbers had reached a certain level and greater control was needed.
“We don’t want the whole character of the street to go”
Claire Green has lived on Second Avenue for 23 years. She described the changes to the street as “horrendous.” She said: “Our issue is that we’re not getting to have our say. It’s been horrendous for everyone that’s here, the muck and the dust.
“We had to decide if we were going to stay here or go after they started. We’re just getting squeezed, the HMOs are being pushed out of Sefton and Anfield, they’re also having the same issues in Rice Lane.
“They aren’t houses. Other people in the street are going to have to be left with the consequences.
“We just want our say, we don’t want the whole character of the street to go. We like living here, it’s just unsettling everyone.”
“War” declared on HMOs
The Article 4 directive covers areas including Tuebrook, where Cllr Joe Dunne has campaigned against the expansion of HMOs, some thought to be unregistered. Speaking at a full meeting of Liverpool Council last week, he said: “What we have done in Tuebrook with the properties of concern, we would like this as a blueprint almost rolled out across the entire city.”
Earlier this month, Cllr Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council, said the city had declared “war” on HMOs. He added that there would be a “continued crackdown” on the issue, telling the Town Hall: “This is genuinely our number one planning enforcement issue. We are absolutely committed to rolling out further article four directions right across the city and we will be bringing forward further reports to cabinet in the next few months to crack on and do that.
“We are absolutely determined to say to bad owners and nefarious HMOs, you are not welcome in Liverpool.”
