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 by following the links in: 

http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/housing/private-sector-housing/houses-in-multiple-occupation-hmo/licensing-of-houses-in-multiple-occupation/


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

Planning and You: Notes from the NAG Open Meeting

A summary of information relating to planning and HMOs presented at the NAG's meeting on Wednesday 24 May 2017.


NOTTINGHAM & NEIGHBOURHOOD: MEETINGS, EXHIBITIONS, CONSULTATIONS & EVENTS

Friday 22 September 2017: Coffee Morning

An invitation to have a cuppa at the Sheila Roper Community Centre in Lenton Abbey, and take a look around the new-look building.

Ground Shakers to Feathered Flyers

1 July 2017 to 29 October 2017, Wollaton Hall: Dinosaurs of China is a one-time only exclusive exhibition of dinosaurs which is coming to Europe for the first time.


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): Community Meeting, Tuesday 3 October 2017, 5.30 pm, Lenton Centre.  Ward Walk, Wednesday 4 October 2017 9.45 am to 11.00 am, Lenton new build and Lenton Drives, meet at the Lenton Centre. Ward Walk Wednesday 1November 2017, 9.45 am to 11.00 am, Penn Avenue Area, meet at Penn Avenue Car Park.

Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey Ward (WELA): Ward Walk, Thursday 12 October 2017, 10.00 am to 11.00 am. North half of Manton Crescent and Manton Crescent Allotments, Lenton Abbey, meet corner North half of Manton Crescent and Woodside Road. Ward Walk, Thursday 23 November 2017, 10.00 am to 11.00 am, Dorket Drive, Orston Green, Charnock Avenue, Wollaton Park Estate, meet at the corner of Dorket Drive and Middleton Boulevard.


NEWS DESK
 

NATIONAL NEWS

Homes the Size of a Budget Hotel Room

On Sunday 21 August 2017, Dan Macadam, BBC Business Reporter, wrote about research by the consumer group Which? which found that the number of newly built micro-homes, smaller than the size of a Tube carriage, rose by 40% last year.

Multiple Home Ownership Sees 30% Increase

Brian Milligan, Personal Finance Reporter, reported on the BBC website (Friday 18 August 2017) on research by the Resolution Foundation showing that the number of multiple home owners grew by 30% between 2002 and 2004 with as many as 5.2 million UK adults owning a second home. That figure includes buy-to-let landlords who are counted as one owner even if they have multiple properties.

Council Tax Exemptions

Freedom of Information requests asking various councils for the number of student occupied properties exempt from paying Council Tax and the monetary value of these exemptions for the past seven years have been published.

Fall in Student Applications

In the Guardian on Monday 14 August 2017, Richard Adams, Education Editor, reported on how the decline in the number of UK school leavers, and less interest from EU undergraduates has meant that the UK's Higher Education sector is having its 'toughest season'.

 

NOTTINGHAM NEWS

Nottingham City Council Can Tackle Rogue Landlords More Easily

ITV reported on 23 August 2017 that changes to the Housing and Planning Act 2016 mean that it will now be easier for Nottingham City Council and other Local Authorities to tackle poor housing conditions in the private rented sector.

Student Homes in Nottingham on the Increase

An article in the Nottingham Post (Saturday 19 August 2017) with the headline 'One in 12 Homes Classed As Student Accommodation in Nottingham' highlights a 33% increase in student properties in the city between 2010 and 2016, and reports views about the benefits (and otherwise) to the city.

Nottingham Trent University's Student Code of Behaviour

NTU has redesigned its Student Code of Behaviour which has been embedded into the student 'Induction' and 'Outduction' educational programmes.

 

NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS

Council Prosecutes Agent for Contravening Letting Board Controls

A Nottingham agent has been fined £400 and must pay £438 in costs for displaying an unauthorised letting board in Lenton where controls on letting boards are in force.

Anti-Social Behaviour: Evidence for an Alcohol Saturation Zone

The City Council's Anti-Social Behaviour team is looking at whether there is evidence for an Alcohol Saturation Zone in neighbourhoods in areas of Dunkirk & Lenton and Radford & Park wards.


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 endeavouring 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.

©2017 The Nottingham Action Group

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