A five-bedroom home in Stevenage which has been operating as a house of multiple occupation (HMO) for at least 10 years has just been granted a Certificate of Lawfulness for this operation.
The agent acting on behalf of the owners says the property in Ramsdell has been used as a HMO since 2014, when the conversion would have been encompassed within permitted development, as it was prior to a law change in 2017.
A HMO is a shared house occupied by individuals who share basic amenities but do not form a single household.
Stevenage Borough Council has now issued a Certificate of Lawfulness for the use of the property as a HMO.
It said: "On the balance of probabilities, the evidence that has been provided has demonstrated that [the property] was operating as a House of Multiple Occupation prior to September 20, 2017 when the council's Article 4 Direction came into force, and is, therefore, a lawful use that is exempt from enforcement action."
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