The Sandwell HMO plan has cleared its political decision stage after Cabinet approved the making of an immediate, borough-wide Article 4 Direction on 14th October 2026. The decision covers the whole administrative area, including West Bromwich, Smethwick, Oldbury, Tipton, Wednesbury and Rowley Regis.
That approval is important, but it is not the same as the Direction already being in force. Cabinet authorised senior officers to finalise and make the legal Direction after completing and considering an equality impact assessment. No signed Direction, statutory notice or operative date had been published when I checked the council’s records. Planning Geek also asked the council about timing this week and was given no date for when the controls would go live.
For property owners, the practical position therefore has not changed yet. A lawful change from a Class C3 dwellinghouse to a small house in multiple occupation, known as an HMO, may still use the national permitted development right unless another restriction applies. Once a valid immediate Direction is made and takes effect, that specified change will need a planning application across Sandwell.
Sandwell HMO plan moves beyond the proposal stage
The Sandwell HMO plan was approved under item 97/26 in the Cabinet minutes. Councillors agreed that the proposed Direction should apply to the whole borough and withdraw Class L(b) of Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.
Class L(b) can permit a change from a dwellinghouse in Use Class C3 to a small HMO in Use Class C4 without a planning application. Class C4 normally covers occupation by three to six unrelated people who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom. Larger HMOs are normally treated as a use outside the defined use classes and already require planning consideration where the change is material.
The Cabinet resolution gives the Executive Director for Place authority to finalise and make the Direction, serve the necessary notices, notify the Secretary of State and undertake consultation. Those steps matter. A committee’s approval gives officers authority to proceed, while the executed legal document establishes exactly when the right is withdrawn and whether any qualifications apply.
Why the legal stage matters
The council described the Sandwell HMO plan as an immediate Direction. If officers now make it in that form, the restriction can take effect without the usual year-long notice period. The Direction would then need to be confirmed within six months if it is to remain in force.
I would not treat 14th October as the operative date merely because that is when Cabinet voted. The resolution expressly requires officers to finalise and make the Direction following the equality assessment. Until the signed document and notice appear, buyers, landlords and advisers should continue checking the current planning position rather than relying on a headline or committee date.
The distinction could be financially important. The council’s own report acknowledges the potential compensation risk associated with immediate implementation. Compensation is not automatic. It depends on the statutory conditions, the timing and outcome of a qualifying planning application and evidence of loss, but the choice of an immediate route means the issue cannot be ignored.
Why Sandwell wants borough-wide controls
The evidence presented to Cabinet referred to concerns about parking, waste management, antisocial behaviour, neighbourhood character and the loss of family housing. The council considers planning control necessary so that future small HMO proposals can be assessed rather than proceeding through permitted development.
Councillor Ray Nock, leader of Sandwell Council, said before the meeting: “Requiring planning permission would give the Council more control over new HMOs to help us protect our neighbourhoods.”
Cabinet rejected a more limited Direction covering only areas with the greatest existing concentrations. The report said that a tightly drawn boundary could displace HMO development into neighbouring areas. It also rejected a non-immediate Direction because further conversions could occur during the notice period.
Those are the council’s reasons for the borough-wide approach. They do not mean every future HMO application should be refused. If the Sandwell HMO plan becomes operative, proposals will still need to be assessed on their individual planning merits against the development plan and other material considerations.
Planning permission and HMO licensing remain separate
Sandwell already operates additional HMO licensing. Licensing deals with matters such as management, occupation and housing conditions. Planning deals with the use of land and buildings. Approval under one regime does not automatically satisfy the other.
An existing lawful HMO would not become unlawful merely because an Article 4 Direction later takes effect. The Direction would remove a permitted development route for future C3 to C4 changes. It would not retrospectively cancel a lawful use, create a borough-wide ban or replace the separate licensing system.
Anyone who has already carried out a change should preserve evidence showing when and how the HMO use began. Tenancy agreements alone may not prove the complete planning position. Occupation, the number of residents, household relationships, shared facilities and continuity of use can all matter.
What happens next
The immediate next step for the Sandwell HMO plan is publication of the executed Direction, its notice and any accompanying plan. Although Cabinet approved the whole administrative area, the legal document remains the controlling source for the exact boundary, commencement date and right withdrawn.
One council officer may have informally indicated to one of our clients that the process could take about a month. That is not a published council timetable and should not be treated as a commencement date. The signed Direction and formal notice will control.
The council must then consult. Cabinet has required a further report before the end of the six-month statutory period, setting out representations and recommending whether the Direction should be confirmed, modified where lawful or allowed to lapse.
For now, the safest description is precise: Cabinet has approved and authorised a borough-wide immediate Direction, but officers still need to make it. The Sandwell HMO plan is more advanced than a proposal awaiting a vote, yet it should not be described as operative until the signed Direction and notice establish that fact.
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