We the undersigned wish to express our concern about the dramatic and unchecked spread of HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) that is destroying our communities in Birmingham. We are particularly worried about the increase in HMOs that are being used for ‘so-called’ supported housing (sometimes known as exempt accommodation). Almost 1000 units of this housing are being approved every month and this is causing untold harm; every day we are experiencing incidents of anti-social behaviour and of criminal activity and our streets are increasingly unsafe and strewn with rubbish. The landlords who are responsible for this ‘plague’ are making a mockery of the idea of providing ‘support’ for vulnerable people while they pocket huge sums of public money.

We demand that:

That Birmingham City Council places a moratorium on all new applications for exempt accommodation housing by providers and/or schemes, on the irrefutable grounds that there is already a significant over-supply of such accommodation in the city.

That Birmingham City Council and the Regulator of Social Housing carry out a systematic and joint audit of all existing providers and/or schemes to ensure that they (and their agents) meet all relevant legal requirements and/or regulatory standards.

That Birmingham City Council should work closely with residents’ groups, using their local knowledge and expertise to support enforcement action against HMOs and exempt housing schemes that are causing problems in the community.