A furious resident in Hanwell, West London, has pleaded with Ealing Council to clamp down on what he describes as an “overconcentration” of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) that’s ruining the area’s family-friendly charm.
Speaking at a council meeting on Tuesday (June 15), local man Manos Kanellos shared a disturbingly vivid example of just how thin the walls are in some of these converted homes.
“His bum is 70 centimetres from my table, I can hear everything – there is no sound insulation in these houses,” he said, referring to his neighbour’s morning bathroom habits.
Mr Kanellos didn’t hold back. Living next to an HMO, he claimed, had become a daily ordeal.
“We have tried to talk to [Ealing] Council, but nobody will listen – we are basically the new Perivale. Family homes are being converted into HMOs – mini hotels – and rented back to the council,” he explained.
Representing a collective of 50 households in Hanwell, Mr Kanellos said residents were at their wits’ end. “We are against the overconcentration of this in our area. It destroys our neighbourhood, our family neighbourhood.”
Councillor Louise Brett, Cabinet Member for Safe and Genuinely Affordable Homes, acknowledged the concerns and began to respond, only to be briefly cut off mid-statement as tensions ran high.
“Please give me a chance to respond,” she urged the attendees. Cllr Brett went on to underline the pressures Ealing is facing.
She cited the rising number of homeless people and the shortfall in social housing as factors pushing the council towards HMOs as a temporary fix. But she also confirmed that from November, things will change.
“An Article 4 Direction will come into force borough-wide in November, which will remove permitted development rights which allow homes to be converted into small HMOs without needing planning permission,” she said.
This means that any new HMO proposals will have to go through a full planning process, giving the council more control over approvals and concentrations.
What is Article 4 Direction?
Introduced to rein in unchecked property conversions, Article 4 is a planning rule that removes automatic rights for certain developments. In effect, it means homeowners and landlords need to apply for planning permission before making changes such as turning a single-family home into an HMO.
Perivale has already had Article 4 in place since October 2024, and Hanwell will follow suit in November 2025.
This isn’t the first time Ealing Council has come under fire for its handling of HMO growth. In June, a property in Perivale—a town already under Article 4 protection—received approval to convert into an HMO, despite receiving over 100 objections from local residents.
Council officers had previously acknowledged the already high density of HMOs in the area, yet still green-lit the plan. The planning officer involved later said the new development was: “not expected to cause unacceptable amenity impact on the neighbouring properties”.
That assurance, however, has done little to ease community fears.
While HMOs can help alleviate housing shortages, the side effects—like noise pollution, overcrowding, and loss of family homes—are fuelling frustration in places like Hanwell.
Residents want balance. They’re not opposing affordable housing. They just want to feel heard—and be able to eat breakfast without overhearing their neighbour’s toilet habits.
