Full scale of Jesmond HMOs revealed in database

A database of licensed houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) seen by JesmondLocal details for the first time the scale of student accommodation in Jesmond.

In total, 951 properties are registered as HMOs by 305 owners across Jesmond.

According to census figures, Jesmond has a population of 21,662. The detailed information on HMOs allows an estimate to be made of the number of people living in licensed HMOs: 5,495 or 25% of the total population.

These numbers are not the total of student properties in Jesmond’s two council wards: the database only records licensed HMOs, which have five or more tenants in properties with three or more floors. Homes with fewer inhabitants are not included in the list.

The share of HMOs in Jesmond is believed to be higher than elsewhere in Newcastle, which government figures say has the 20th highest proportion of HMOs in a list of local authorities.

Newcastle City Council generally denies applications for HMO conversions in Jesmond due to the large proportion of rented houses in the area. Oxford City Council, another area with a high student population, denied an application for an HMO in August 2015 because one-third of its homes were HMOs.

The list provides details of the address, owner, licence number, address of the licence holder and number of rooms of every HMO with five or more inhabitants throughout Jesmond. JesmondLocal has collated these properties into an interactive map.

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North Jesmond has a total of 608 HMOs owned by 220 individuals, letting agents or private companies. By far the largest proportion of these properties are owned by private individuals, accounting for around 80% of the properties. Letting agencies own a further 15% of all North Jesmond’s HMOs, with Walton Robinson holding the licence for 50 out of the 92 agency-owned houses.

Certain individuals and names dominate the list of private owners. Hassan Rivzi owns the most of any individual with 16, followed by N Callaghan with 14. Many other private landlords each own nine or more properties.

Separate individuals who share the same surname dominate ownership in North Jesmond. Individuals with the surname Wilkie-Smith own 19 properties, those named Shahid 16 and Johnsons own 12.

Though it is not possible to corroborate if they are related, it appears landlords keep it in the family: those who share the same family name own 9.5% of all North Jesmond HMOs.

For both Jesmond wards six-room properties were by far the most common, accounting for 37% of homes in North Jesmond and 41% in South Jesmond.

The largest property listed has accommodation for 24 bedrooms, located at 32 Eastwood Avenue.

Houses of 10 or more bedrooms are exceedingly rare, accounting for only 0.5% of HMOs.

South Jesmond is roughly half the size of its counterpart in terms of HMOs, with 343 registered in the ward by 128 owners.

Again the majority of these are owned by private individuals – around 80%. Walton Robinson dominates the agency market once more with 23 of the 60 agency-owned properties, meaning it owns a total of 73 properties or 7.6% of all Jesmond HMOs.

Three individuals share the crown of most HMOs owned in the South Jesmond ward. Charles Wilkie-Smith, Charles Lamb and George Farr each own 13 properties. Those sharing the surname Wilkie-Smith own 24 – or 7% – of the listed properties.