The imposing homes surrounding Newsham Park are worlds apart from when they were first built.
Dating back to the Victorian period, the homes which were once occupied by single family households have in many cases been split up into separate flats or converted into houses of multiple occupancy [HMOs]. A landlord letting out a HMO in this area can fetch anything in the region of £4,200 a month, compared to a rent of around £1,200 a month from a single household.
Jodie Hand and Carl Ellis, 45, have experienced first hand the impact the rise of HMOs are having on areas like Tuebrook. The couple and their eight children were asked to leave the home they have rented in the area for the last two years after being served a possession order dated March 17.
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Jodie said they have always paid their rent on time and the decision was made due to the landlord wanting to turn the property into a HMO. Jodie told the ECHO: "We moved here because it would be a bigger property to provide more space with the kids with complex needs.
"They've never had any problems with us. We're a family, we keep ourselves to ourselves. If we had rent arears or an ASBO I'd understand.
"Some of the rents are absolutely shocking - £1,500 a month for houses we need. The type of house we're in now in Tuebrook, they're houses that were built for families years ago, they weren't made to be HMOs."
"I just want to get the kids somewhere where they can settle"
Jodie said her family have spent the last 12 months looking for somewhere else to live through the private rental market and through Liverpool City Council's housing options team. However, they are yet to find anything they can afford for a similar price to their current rent of £700 a month or a house that can accommodate their family.
A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: "It's an understandably traumatic experience for a tenant to be in and the council fully understands and accepts what people go through in that scenario.
"In this experience, we've spoken to the family, we've provided them with the advice they need and explained to them the process. Officers and the team in housing options are working to find alternative accommodation that's suitable for the family."
Since speaking to the ECHO last week, Jodie said she has been given access to the council's property pool so she can now bid on available houses. She is now desperately trying to find somewhere for her family to live and fears they will soon be served a further possession notice, having been asked to leave the property by March 17.
Jodie said: "I can't deal with another private landlord. We're looking all the time but then 12 months down the line I could be in the same situation again.
"I just want to get the kids somewhere where they can settle. This is causing me heartache. We've invested time and money in doing it up and now we're out of pocket."
"It does feel like we're slowly getting pushed out"
The impact of HMOs isn't an issue just limited to Tuebrook - one of a number of areas where Liverpool City Council has imposed an Article 4 direction in a bid to curb the spread of these conversions. Under Article 4, which came into force in 11 of the city's wards in June 2021, planning permission must now be sought for properties being converted into a HMO for three or more people.
Previously, planning permission was only needed for HMOs of seven bedrooms or more. But with the rules only applying to HMOs built after June 2021, some residents and local councillors feel the damage has already been done in areas like Tuebrook.
Tony Dransfield said it was living near Newsham Park that attracted him and his wife to move to the area in 2002. The 75-year-old told the ECHO: "My wife saw the place was up for grabs and she said 'I'd love to live in the park.'
"It was eight bedrooms once - it's five now. It does feel like we're slowly getting pushed out.
"We've got multiples [HMOs] either side of us which we didn't have before."
Jennett, 41, who asked to be referred to by her first name, also moved to a house near to Newsham Park with her husband and their five children after years of struggling to find an affordable home to rent.
The six bedroom home was previously let out as a HMO before the family signed a lease for £1,200 a month. Jennett told the ECHO: "It’s so hard finding a large house in a road where they aren’t all HMOs. We’ve been looking for a bigger house for years.
"We knew this area was nice in regards to the park. We needed it to be within not too much of a drive to the children's schools of a morning.
"You’ve got to be in megabucks to live further afield."
"The properties are so large and difficult to run they lend themselves to being HMOs"
While some residents feared the number of shared houses in Tuebrook was pricing families out of the area, others felt the homes were too expensive for a single household to run.
Peter, 64, told the ECHO: "This house has got seven bedrooms, then we've got a cellar that's been converted. You could probably have ten bedrooms - for a landlord that's a big income.
"A lot of people in HMOs are not any trouble. I don't care as long as it's viable for the people that live in them. They've got to be maintained properly."
Peter's wife, who did not want to be named, added: "It's difficult because realistically the properties are so large and difficult to run they lend themselves to being HMOs."
Csilla Edwards, 84, has lived on the same road in Tuebrook for the last 60 years, where her husband has lived all his life. During this time Csilla has seen many families move out of the road, which has become home to a more transient community.
Csilla said: "I wouldn't buy a house on this road now. This used to be a beautiful road.
"You want to see what gets dumped in the entry: sofas, mattresses, you name it. It's overrun with rats. I feel sorry for the men that have to [clean] it."
Susan Waller, 66, moved into a flat in a converted terraced house in Tuebrook seven years ago after she could no longer afford the bungalow she was living in on Breck Road.
Susan told the ECHO: "It was beautiful but I had to move because of the bedroom tax, I couldn't afford it. I was 60 and I was having to sign on. I've never signed on in my life."
Susan said young families also live in the Tuebrook flats which are well looked after by the landlord. She added: "There's some beautiful people in this street, they always say hello.
"I can't complain about my landlord. I don't think anyone would complain. He doesn't regular checks - house and gas checks."
What Tuebrook councillor Steve Radford had to say
Speaking to the ECHO, Tuebrook councillor and Liberal leader Steve Radford said there are often misconceptions around an Article 4 direction and what powers it gives to the council when it comes to HMOs.
He said: "The Article 4 direction has given the public an expectation which isn't deliverable. There isn't a ban on HMOs, it's a change in the amount of evidence and the threshold of evidence has changed.
"I've been a councillor for 42 years and I think Article 4 has come in too late for Newsham Park. It has been a good thing but it has been too late."
Cllr Radford said whilst he's concerned there's been a lot of delays with planning applications being dealt with by the council, he thinks the decision making around those applications has improved, adding: "As a consequence there are more HMOs being knocked back by the council then there was in the past."
Cllr Radford said: "I get the impression the council is now looking at more applications with more scrutiny than they have done and that is having a positive impact."
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