Wirral HMO controls have moved a step closer after councillors unanimously backed an investigation into a borough-wide Article 4 Direction. The full council vote on Monday 12th October 2026 asked the chief planner to examine the case and bring recommendations back to a future committee meeting.
This was not the making of an Article 4 Direction, and it has not changed the planning rules anywhere in Wirral. The Wirral HMO controls are still at the evidence-gathering stage, with no draft Direction, boundary map, consultation, start date or decision on whether any future measure would take immediate or delayed effect.
If the council eventually proceeds, a borough-wide Direction could remove the normal permitted development route from a family house in Class C3 to a small shared house in Class C4. That would mean a planning application was needed for the change, but it would not amount to a ban on HMOs or make an existing lawful HMO unlawful.
What councillors resolved about Wirral HMO controls
The starting point is the wording that councillors actually approved. The amended motion from the 12th October council meeting, now locally hosted by Planning Geek, records three decisions:
- Support the principle that changes from family housing to HMOs should be subject to appropriate local planning control
- Ask all group leaders to write to the housing and planning minister, copied to Wirral’s MPs, seeking stronger powers for councils to manage concentrations of HMOs
- Ask the chief planner to examine a borough-wide Article 4 Direction and report recommendations to the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee
The final wording also says the report should be prepared with the Director of Housing and Communities. It must help the council balance affordable housing choices against the long-term sustainability, character and cohesion of local communities.
That careful wording matters. Councillor Andrew Gardner, who moved the original Conservative motion, told the meeting: “This motion doesn’t ask this council, or this chamber, to make a decision on this tonight.” His point, reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, matches the formal resolution. The decision was to commission the work, not to approve the outcome in advance.
The motion was amended by Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors before receiving unanimous support. The cross-party result gives the proposed Wirral HMO controls political momentum, but the evidence and the chief planner’s recommendations will still have to do the legal and planning work.
What an Article 4 Direction would change
In England, Schedule 2, Part 3, Class L(b) of the General Permitted Development Order normally allows a dwellinghouse in Class C3 to change to a small HMO in Class C4 without a full planning application. Class C4 generally covers homes occupied by three to six unrelated people who share basic facilities.
An Article 4 Direction can withdraw that permitted development right in a defined area. If valid Wirral HMO controls were eventually made and brought into force across the borough, a qualifying C3-to-C4 change would need planning permission. The council could then assess the proposal against its development plan and any other material considerations.
That is control, not prohibition. The council’s own Article 4 guidance makes the same point: a Direction means the specified development needs a planning application so that the authority can consider it in more detail.
Larger shared houses with more than six residents are generally outside Class C4 and treated as a sui generis use, which already normally requires planning permission for a material change of use. The October motion is specifically aimed at the permitted development route between C3 and C4.
Planning permission is also separate from housing licensing. Wirral says a mandatory HMO licence is required where a property is occupied by five or more unrelated people forming two or more households who share facilities. Some smaller rented properties can also fall within Wirral’s selective licensing areas. A licence does not grant planning permission, and planning permission does not remove a licensing requirement.
Why borough-wide coverage is only a proposal
The motion asks officers to examine coverage across all of Wirral, rather than a shortlist of neighbourhoods. That does not establish that every part of the borough will be included. The chief planner will need to consider whether the available evidence justifies the proposed geographical scope and whether a more targeted boundary would be proportionate.
National planning guidance expects Article 4 Directions to be based on robust evidence and apply to the smallest geographical area possible. A borough-wide case therefore needs more than a general concern about HMOs. Officers will need to identify the harm being addressed, consider the existing distribution and growth of small HMOs, and explain why ordinary development management policies cannot adequately deal with it while the permitted development right remains available.
Wirral’s adopted development plan already contains Policy WD7 for proposals that require permission. In broad terms, that policy considers whether an HMO is in a location suited to higher-density residential development, whether it would harm the character of the area, and whether it would contribute to an over-concentration. Future Wirral HMO controls would bring more small conversions into that planning assessment, rather than create a wholly new policy test.
The council had already signalled work on small HMOs
The October vote was not the first public sign that officers were considering the issue. At the council meeting on 20th July 2026, a written exchange about lawful development certificates for smaller HMOs recorded an update on progress towards introducing an Article 4 Direction to strengthen planning control over those uses.
The new resolution makes that work more explicit and politically accountable. It names the borough-wide option, requires recommendations to a public committee and asks national government for stronger powers. Even so, the council’s current published list of operative Article 4 areas does not show an HMO Direction covering Wirral.
That gap between political intention and a legal Direction is the main point for owners, buyers and residents. The Wirral HMO controls cannot be treated as operative until the council has made the relevant instrument, published the statutory notice and identified the precise area and date on which it takes effect.
Immediate or non-immediate has not been decided
The resolution does not say whether any future Direction should be immediate or non-immediate. A non-immediate Direction is normally publicised at least 12 months before it takes effect. That lead-in can remove the council’s compensation exposure for the withdrawal of the relevant permitted development right, provided the statutory requirements are met.
An immediate Direction can take effect much sooner, but the legal tests, notification process and potential compensation consequences are different. It also has to be confirmed within the relevant period if it is to remain in force. Those are not details that can be inferred from the council vote.
The future committee report should therefore be expected to address evidence, scope, timing, consultation, compensation risk and the proposed route to making and confirming the Direction. Until that report is published, there is no responsible basis for stating when Wirral HMO controls might begin.
What happens next
The next substantive milestone will be a report to the Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee. That report may recommend a borough-wide Direction, a smaller area, further evidence gathering or no Direction at all. If councillors agree to proceed, the formal Direction, notice and map will then be the documents that determine what is covered and when.
For now, anyone considering a small HMO conversion should check the property’s planning history, any existing site-specific restrictions and the current permitted development rules. They should also check licensing separately. A newspaper headline or a council motion is not a substitute for the operative legal documents.
I will be looking particularly for the evidence behind the proposed boundary and the choice between immediate and non-immediate action. The Wirral HMO controls have unanimous political backing as an idea, but the council has not yet crossed the line from investigation to a Direction.
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