Permission to open a new house for homeless people in a street plagued by antisocial problems has been refused.
Experienced council landlord Bert Logan has been providing housing for homeless people in the county for 20 years and had planned to operate a new House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) on Musselburgh’s Shorthope Street which would have exclusively housed tenants referred by the local authority.
However a meeting of East Lothian Council’s licensing sub committee last week heard the street had been at the centre of a spate of issues involving antisocial behaviour, drugs use and safety concerns for some time.
And the committee’s chairperson said that concern for the safety of tenants moving into the new HMO meant he could not support the application for a licence to operate the property.
Speaking after police confirmed the area had been at the centre of ongoing concerns and was being targeted with mobile CCTV to try and tackle issues, Councillor Colin McGinn told the meeting: “I have a concern about the ongoing issues we have in that area.”
He told the meeting: “I have no issue with Mr Logan or his HMOs, my concern is what we know goes on in this area and placing what may be vulnerable tenants and constituents in an HMO while we know there is significant antisocial behaviour, issues with drugs and concern about adults and young people.
“I am concerned about putting potentially vulnerable adults in a situation where we know there is a significant concern.”
The meeting heard from Mr Logan’s partner Norman Erskine, who was the named applicant on the licence for the HMO that they had been unaware of the issues faced by residents in the street when they bought the property.
Objectors to the HMO had raised concerns about the impact introducing the different type of tenant to the small residential block on the street which was described as a ‘tight’ fit by residents and police, would have on its character.
Ms Erskine’s daughter Fiona Struthers, representing them at the meeting, said Mr Logan currently has two other HMO properties in the county adding: “His experience is very much that the majority of homeless people which he houses are not drug takers and are not trouble makers, but find themselves homeless for a variety of reasons which a lot of the time are outwith their control.
“The people he deals with are often concerned about going into HMO accommodation and need reassurance from Mr Logan and his team that they will create a safe environment for them.”
The committee heard Mr Logan had a contract with the emergency homeless section and tenants in the new property would be taken “entirely through the council”.
More than a dozen neighbours and local business owners signed a letter objecting to the plans to change the use of the house on Shorthope Street raising concerns about ongoing problems with antisocial behaviour, vandalism and alleged alcohol and drug misuse.
The committee refused the application for a licence to operate the HMO in the five bedroom property by two votes to one with Councillor McGinn and Councillor Carol McFarlane against it and Councillor Lee-Anne Menzies voting to approve it.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
