Ealing Labour to ban local resident engagement on Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

Ealing Lib Dems are very disappointed that Ealing Labour will ban any local determination of HMOs in local communities.

Labour are banning residents from engaging on local Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). They are changing planning laws so that HMOs will no longer go before local planning committees.

This is a significant overhaul of the planning system in 2025/202,6 which will heavily favour centralised approvals for developments, including HMOs that comply with local and national planning policies. This means that Ealing Labour can wave through any changes that they want without any need to engage residents. Thus, Ealing Labour will continue to ignore the concerns of local residents about their local area. 

Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Gary Malcolm, said: “Liberal Democrats say that Ealing Labour has a long history of actively avoiding extensive resident engagement, the most recent case was the official ombudsman on Lammas Park that found they had not consulted residents enough! Liberal Democrats say that this is yet another example of Ealing Labour avoiding openness and transparency across their decision making, which weakens local democratic participation. It would be great for Labour to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk for the people of Ealing.”