Welcome to the Website
of the
NOTTINGHAM ACTION GROUP ON HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION
 

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THE NAG
WHO ♦ WHAT ♦ WHY ♦ HOW?
 


“We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams, ...
... Yet we are the movers and shakers,
Of the world forever, it seems.”

[Arthur O’Shaughnessy, Poems of Arthur O’Shaughnessy]

We are residents living in neighbourhoods from across a large part of the City of Nottingham (Sherwood, The Arboretum, Hyson Green, Radford, The Park, Lenton, Dunkirk, The Meadows, Wollaton Park, Wollaton, Lenton Abbey), and also in Beeston and West Bridgford.

Although our neighbourhoods are as different from one another as we are, what they have in common are the problems caused by increasing concentrations of so-called 'Houses in Multiple Occupation' (HMOs) - shared houses with absentee landlords and short-term, highly transient tenants.

What we have in common is the feeling that as individual residents we run the risk of having little or no say in what primarily local and national government, our higher education establishments, developers, investors, and others are planning and doing, even though their decisions directly affect us and the future of the neighbourhoods in which we live. As individuals we feel we have little or no voice. However, we believe that coming together as a group gives us a voice.

In February 2004, we did get together and formed the Nottingham Action Group on HMOs – the NAG – not a nice name, but appropriate. What has been happening to our neighbourhoods is not nice for those who live in them, or for their futures, and we are ready to nag and keep on nagging to get things done.

Whilst we cannot change what has happened, perhaps we too can become not just the 'dreamers of dreams' but also the 'movers and shakers', and, by influencing what may be going to happen, so help shape the future of our neighbourhoods.

For the NAG that future needs to be neighbourhoods that are resilient, balanced and sustainable, and where people feel happy to put down roots and contribute to the future of the City of Nottingham as a whole. In other words:

‘... places where people want to live and work and learn, now and in the future. ...'



WHAT IS A HOUSE IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION (HMO)?
 

An HMO is often also known as a 'shared house'. Put as simply as possible, an HMO is a building, or part of a building, occupied as a main residence by more than one household where a 'household' can be one person or several people provided that they are related to one another. So, for example, a home is probably an HMO if 

•three or more unrelated people live there as at least two separate households, and

•the people living there share the same amenities such as a kitchen and/or bathroom.

For more information about HMOs and about legislation relating to HMOs, we suggest you take a look at these websites:

http://www.hmolobby.org.uk

http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/HMO 

Also, Nottingham City Council publish a regularly up-dated Register of Licensed HMOs, which can be downloaded from the appropriate link in this page: http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/HMO. Scroll to the 'Downloads' section and the register is the last item on the list.

 


REPORT A ROGUE LANDLORD

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If you want advice or help relating to the condition and management of your privately rented property

Visit:
www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/article/29046/Report-a-rogue-landlord-or-problem-with-your-private-rented-property
E-Mail: environmental.health@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Telephone: 0115 915-2020 (Option 4)
Write to: Environmental Health, Community Protection, Nottingham City Council, Loxley House,
Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG


FOR YOUR DIARY
 

NAG MEETINGS & EVENTS

 


'CURRENT TRENDS & FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE STUDENT HOUSING MARKET'

A Unipol-Nottingham Action Group on HMOs (U-NAG) Public Meeting

Thursday 21 February 2019, 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm

The Lecture Room
New Mechanics Institute, North Sherwood Street, Nottingham

 


February 2019 Unipol-NAG (U-NAG) Open Meeting: 'Current Trends & Future Developments in the Student Housing Market'

Thursday 21 February 2019 at the New Mechanics Institute, North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, prompt start at 6.00 pm. The meeting is held against the background of a constantly changing student housing market which not only impacts on all aspects of life in 'studentified' neighbourhoods, but has ramifications for the housing market as a whole. The lead speaker will be Martin Blakey, CEO of Unipol Student Homes. He will be joined by the Registrars of Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University. The City Council's Director of Planning & Regeneration has also accepted the NAG's invitation to the meeting. Amongst others attending will be other representatives from both universities, and Senior Community Protection officers for Central West and Central North. The agenda and other details will be posted shortly. It would be appreciated if everyone attending the meeting could arrange to arrive in good time so that the meeting can begin at 6.00 pm.

January 2018 NAG Open Meeting: Notes of Meeting Now Available

Notes of this meeting, held on Friday, 26 January 2018, are available to read and to download when you open this page.


NATIONAL, NOTTINGHAM & NEIGHBOURHOOD: MEETINGS, EXHIBITIONS, CONSULTATIONS & EVENTS

Nottingham Light Night 2019

Friday 8 February 2019: Nottingham residents are invited to take an orbital journey across the city from the canal side to the castle and beyond. Discover the magic of Light Night with striking light installations, exciting performances and enjoyable opportunities to take part, inspired by the 50th anniversary of Apollo and the first man on the moon.


NEIGHBOURHOOD: PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY ADVICE,
WARD MEETINGS, WARD WALKS & WARD EVENTS

Nottingham East Constituency: Contact information for Chris Leslie MP.
Nottingham South Constituency: Contact and constituency advice surgery information for Lilian Greenwood MP.

Dunkirk & Lenton Ward (D&L): Ward Walks: Nottingham City Council restructuring is affecting the programme of ward walks. To try and avoid posting inaccurate information, details of future Dunkirk & Lenton Ward walks will be posted only as and when they become available. Ward Councillors' Surgeries: Lenton Centre, 6.30 pm second Tuesday of every month; Dunkirk Community Centre, 7.00 pm fourth Friday of every month.

Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey Ward (WELA): Ward Walks: Nottingham City Council restructuring is affecting the programme of ward walks. To try and avoid posting inaccurate information, details of future Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey Ward walks will be posted only as and when they become available.

WELA Councillors' Monthly Update: WELA_Councillors_Update_January_2019.pdf


NEWS DESK
 


NATIONAL NEWS

Anticipated Cut in Student Fees: Are Universities at Risk of Collapsing?

On Monday 18 February 2019 Sean Coughlan, BBC News Education & Family Correspondent reported on the growing expectation that university fees will be cut and on the possibility that some universities may go to the wall.

'Studentification': The Negative Impacts of Large Student Populations

Peter Beech, writing in the Guardian, Thursday 6 December 2018, reported on how people living in areas with high concentrations of students in university towns and cities from Bristol to Nottingham are asserting their right to get a good night's sleep.

The National HMO Lobby's Response to Coalition Government Plans to Amend HMO Planning Legislation

Read how the new coalition government is to amend the planning legislation on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

Landlords Exploit Loopholes

On Tuesday 23 October 2018 theGuardian and ITV News reported that convicted landlords who have been ruled unfit to rent out their properties are exploiting loopholes in the law intended to protect vulnerable tenants.

 

NOTTINGHAM NEWS

Neville Sadler Court in Beeston to be Redeveloped as Student Cluster Flats

Jamie Barlow (Nottingham Post, 16 February 2019) reported that plans to create accommodation for more than 80 students in a former sheltered housing site in Beeston were approved by Broxtowe Borough Council at a planning meeting on 13 February 2019.

Developer Plans to Change Beeston Pub into Student Flats

Christian Riley and Jamie Barlow (Nottingham Post 12 February 2019) reported that plans to turn the Queen's Hotel in Queen's Road, Beeston, into three flats with 18 bedrooms in total have been recommended for approval.

The 2019-2023 Additional Licensing of HMOs Scheme Approved

On 18 September 2018 Nottingham City Council's Executive Board approved a new Additional Licensing Scheme for HMOs to run until December 2023

'Housing Horror Stories Behind Selective Licensing'

On Friday 17 August 2018, Kit Sandeman, Local Democracy Reporter for the Nottingham Post, posted an article in which a Nottingham City Council environmental health expert described the horrific conditions he has seen people renting in Nottingham live in, and explained that, as part of selective licensing, he and his team would 'ruthlessly hunt' bad landlords.

 

NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS

Great Places Commission Visit to Lenton

As part of its fact finding, the Great Places Commission's visit to the East Midlands included Lenton Green, the Nottingham City Homes redevelopment of the Lenton high rise flats site.

Landlord of Wollaton Hall Drive HMO Fined & Faces Jail After Court Hearing

Writing in the Nottingham Post (Friday 6 July 2018) Rod Malcolm reported that Rehaan Rashid of Kilburn Close, Beeston, who threatened to wreck the future careers of student tenants who raised concerns about their accommodation, must pay almost £35,000 and could face jail after he pleaded guilty to harassment and breaches of the Housing Act.


UNIVERSITY CORNER
 

NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY

Community Statistics & Response Rates

At the meeting facilitated by the NAG on 26 January 2018, Nottingham Trent University presented its community statistics and response rates for the period from September 2017 to 26 January 2018. The university will be providing up-dated community statistics and response rates for each term of the academic year. 

A summary of Nottingham Trent University's community statistics for the academic year 2017 to 2018 is now available and can be downloaded here:

NTU_Community_Statistics_2017_to_2018.pdf

Nottingham Trent's 'Moving Into the Community' information portal can be accessed here:

 http://browzer.co.uk/u/ntu/preview/77

NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY

Community Newsletter

Community Newsletter Winter 2018

 


EDITOR'S REMINISCENCE
 

In the Midwinter 2009-2010 issue of the NAG's magazine (NAG Magazine (TransNAG) an article based on a BBC Radio 4 programme entitled 'The Oxbridge Murder' delved into the history of the foundation of Cambridge University, at that time marking its 800th anniversary, and also touched on some of the friction between town and gown which existed then ... .

At the end of the article, the Editor noted that: Of one thing we can be sure. In 1209 there were no universities in Nottingham, though, if legend is to believed, Nottingham did have its own source of riot and mayhem in the form of Robin Hood and his band of ‘merry men’.

Today, we have two universities in Nottingham and their 50,000 or so students make up about 12 per cent of the City’s population.

Though one cannot imagine Nottingham's City Council leaders being required to kneel before the respective Vice-Chancellors of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent universities in order to swear obedience to them in any way, shape or form, the friction between town and gown continues to surface on the streets of our studentified neighbourhoods, if nowhere else. And sometimes it does seem as if history is only a very recent page in a well-thumbed book.

The Oxbridge Murder


NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL LOCAL PLAN
 

 
Nottingham City  Council’s Local Plan has been submitted to the Secretary of State. The Independent Examination of the Local Plan is likely to take place in September 2018. An inspector, Inspector Beverley Doward, has been appointed in that role, and administration of the procedure will be undertaken by the Programme Officer who is independent of the Council and will work directly with the Inspector. Any queries regarding the examination process should be directed to her:
 
Mrs. Jayne Knight,
c/o Planning Policy & Research Team, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG
Tel: 876 4063
 
Information about the process, including hearing dates, documentations, etc. will be published as and when it becomes available. For updates and to see the LAPP visit: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/examination.
 
The Planning Inspectorate has produced a document to explain the process for examining Local Plans, which is available via the following link:


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & DISCLAIMER
 

The Nottingham Action Group on HMOs wishes to thank: Nottingham City Council for funding support; everyone whose contributions (photographs, ideas, articles, work) form part of this website; and Magneto Technologies Ltd (http://magnetoweb.com) for the expertise which has enabled us to set up and maintain this website.

Last, but by no means least, we also thank our neighbours in the National HMO Lobby for their continuing help and support.

The views and opinions expressed in contributions to this website do not necessarily reflect those of the Nottingham Action Group on HMOs, its committee, or its wider membership.

Whilst we endeavour to ensure that reports are accurate, from time to time mistakes may occur. If you feel this is the case, please contact the Nottingham Action Group on HMOs. Information on how to do so is available on the 'Contact Us' page of this website.

©2019 The Nottingham Action Group

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