Sefton Councillors have spoken of their anger at a “legal loophole” that means an area believed to have dozens of unregistered HMOs is classed as not being “over-saturated” with bedsits.
Cllr Anne Thompson, who is the ward councillor representing the Worcester Road area of Bootle spoke of how the street had become “bedsit land” as dozens of properties operate as HMOs (houses of multiple occupation).
However, due to planning rules, Sefton Council officers said that a proposal to convert another of the Victorian three-storey homes into a six-bedroom HMO would not breach the 10% over-saturation rule because only one house within 50m was officially known to have been converted into bedsits.
