Council chiefs are bringing in new rules for the estimated 2,000 houses in multiple occupation in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is set to introduce a city-wide direction meaning all new HMOs will need planning permission.

And the authority is also planning to launch a new licensing scheme for the hundreds of smaller HMOs already in operation in the city, to ensure they meet certain standards.

Council leaders say these 'proportionate' measures will address the growing concerns over the proliferation of HMOs in Stoke-on-Trent.

High concentrations of HMOs in some areas are linked to problems with anti-social behaviour and parking, and there are also concerns over the standard of HMO accommodation provided by 'unscrupulous' landlords.

Cabinet members will be asked to back the proposals when they meet on Tuesday. They say that while HMOs can serve a useful purpose, the new measures will give the council more control over where they are developed and how they are managed.

Councillor Duncan Walker, cabinet member for safe and resilient communities and housing at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: "HMOs have a place in terms of meeting the significant housing needs within the city – they can be an important step on the ladder for people looking for a home, but they need to be of high quality and proportionate.

"For this reason, they need to be strictly controlled to ensure they do not have a disproportionate impact on neighbourhoods and are of a sufficiently high standard. So, we are proposing to take the toughest action we can to ensure this.

"The evidence in Stoke-on-Trent shows HMOs are concentrated in a number of urban neighbourhoods, and that the impact – in terms of noise, waste, and demand on parking – are most acute where concentrations are highest.

"The measures being proposed are a proportionate response. They would control the spread of HMOs while improving standards and allowing for effective enforcement."

At the moment, houses can be converted into HMOs for three to six unrelated people without planning permission.

The council's planned Article 4 direction would remove these permitted development rights for any new HMO conversions in the city.

Also, HMOs for up to four people do not need a licence, and the council estimates that there could be around 1,500 smaller, unlicensed HMOs currently in operation in Stoke-on-Trent – three quarters of the total.

Permitted development rights and the current licensing scheme have made it difficult for councils to control the spread of HMOs, or even know definitely how many there are in an area.

A council report acknowledges that the method used to estimate the number of HMOs in Stoke-on-Trent is 'not 100 per cent acurate', and there could be even more than 2,000.

HMOs make up at least one per cent of all homes in all but one ward in the city – in Basford and Hartshill more than one in 20 homes is an HMO.

Basford and Hartshill ward councillor Shaun Pender welcomed the proposals to regulate HMOs in the city.

He said: "I've been calling for the council to do something about this for some time now. There are clearly too many HMOs in Hartshill particularly, and across the city more generally.

"When you have such a churn of tenants in an area it can erode community cohesion. People want to feel that sense of community.

"Hopefully these measures will arrest the growth of HMOs, as we have reached saturation point in some areas."

The new licensing scheme, which will be subject to consultation, is expected to cost around £1.2 million over the first five years.

In order to make it cost neutral, the council would need to charge landlords between £750 and £1,000 for a licence.

Introducing the Article 4 direction would not automatically ban new HMOs in the city, but it would require developers to go through the planning process.

Residents and statutory consultees would have the chance to raise objections, which could result in permission being refused.

Applications for HMOs would also need to comply with rules in the forthcoming local plan.

These will bar new conversions that would result in HMOs making up more than five per cent of homes within a 50-metre radius, a cap on the percentage of HMOs allowed in each ward, and a ban on HMOs being side-by-side or other properties being sandwiched between two HMOs.

The council could introduce the Article 4 direction immediately if it so wished, but the report says this could expose the authority to compensation claims from affected landlords.

On the other hand, giving 12 months' notice could lead to a rush of HMO conversions before the planning controls take effect.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council recently announced its own plans for an Article 4 direction on HMOs.