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Cambridge is an outlier among major university cities. While places like Oxford, Manchester and Bristol have defined thresholds which limit the percentage of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in a neighbourhood as well as Article 4 Directions which enable planners to control their spread, Cambridge has neither.

This lack of safeguards is allowing family homes to be rapidly converted into HMOs without proper oversight, leading to growing concentrations in some neighbourhoods. National planning guidance and councils across the UK recognise around 10% as the tipping point where too many HMOs begin to harm local communities - affecting parking, waste management, housing quality and neighbourhood stability.

In areas like Petersfield and Romsey in central Cambridge, that threshold has already been exceeded, with detrimental impacts on long-standing residents and HMO tenants alike.

The  Cambridge Local Plan recognises the harm to local communities that can be caused by an over-concentration of HMOs in a neighbourhood. But at the moment in Cambridge, property investors do not need to get planning permission to convert a family home into a 'small' HMO - defined as a property for six unrelated people or fewer. There is also no clear numerical definition of what an "over-concentration" actually means.

We are calling for two practical, widely-used planning measures to address this:

1. Amend the Local Plan to set a clear '10% HMO threshold within a radius of 100m', across Cambridge, to prevent harmful over-concentration. (So if a property owner wants to convert an existing house into a HMO and at least 10% of the properties within a 100m radius of that house are already HMOs, the planning application is likely to be refused.)
2. The introduction of an Article 4 Direction in Cambridge, requiring property owners to seek planning permission to convert an existing home into a 'small' HMO for three to six people. (At the moment property owners only need to apply for planning permission to convert an existing property into a 'large' HMO for seven occupants or more.)

Both of these measures are standard tools used by dozens of councils across the UK. They provide clarity for planners, reduce speculative conversions, and protect balanced, sustainable communities - while still allowing HMOs where they are needed.

Cambridge City Council has the power to act. This petition calls on them to do so.