New rules that were supposed to protect neighbourhoods from being swamped by bedsits are failing, frustrated councillors say.
South Gloucestershire Council introduced a policy in September limiting how many family homes could be turned into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in the same area.
But a loophole in the new supplementary planning document (SPD) means only licensed HMOs can be taken into account when deciding applications and that both unauthorised conversions and shared properties with fewer than five people, which do not require a licence, are excluded.
