![\"Labour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_NWP_BEM_040724Election_88JPG.jpg\")
Labour MP Al Carns(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\nBirmingham residents living in the Selly Oak area recently criticised the council’s \u201cblanket acceptance of HMOs\u201dLabour MP Al Carns(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n
Selly Oak\u2019s MP has said tackling the \u2018brewing problem\u2019 of HMOs and exempt accommodation is one of the key challenges he wants to tackle in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Al Carns, who became a Birmingham<\/a> MP during last year\u2019s general election, recently spoke about the \u201cmajor issue\u201d and what can be done to address it with students from the University of Birmingham<\/a>.<\/p>\n It comes months after angered Brummies living in the constituency criticised the city council\u2019s<\/a> \u201cblanket acceptance of HMOs\u201d in parts of the area and called for change.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>How long Birmingham City Council\u2019s \u2018long road\u2019 to recovery could be amid ‘critical turning point’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge, huge burden on the waste issues,\u201d Elsa Ralph, who has lived in the area for nearly three decades, said last summer.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the rat issue is just horrific – it\u2019s really difficult. Each summer, we look at what we can put [in our garden] that the rats won\u2019t attack.\u201d<\/p>\n Another frustrated resident living in the area, who wished to remain anonymous, also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)<\/a> at the time that he was worried about the cumulative impact of all of the HMOs and argued that more of a \u201cbalance\u201d was needed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe area is always going to be populated with students. We live next to one of the best universities in the UK,\u201d he said. \u201cThe issue isn\u2019t against students.<\/p>\n \u201cOne more HMO in isolation won\u2019t make an issue but when it\u2019s one more on every road, every month or every six months, that\u2019s 30 new HMOs.”<\/p>\n During his recent meeting at the Guild of Students, Mr Carns acknowledged that Selly Oak<\/a> has \u201cmore exempt housing and HMOs than any other constituency in Birmingham\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure HMO and exempt housing has the right legislative wrap around it to make sure it\u2019s done in the right place, at the right time, at the right speed,\u201d he went on to say.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re just brewing a real problem there.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what he wanted to achieve over the next four years in Selly Oak, Mr Carns also said: \u201cThere\u2019s a couple of big things on the horizon.<\/p>\n \u201cOne is the life sciences centre – it\u2019s really making sure Birmingham becomes a centre for life sciences between us, Oxford and Cambridge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the most diverse population in the UK, we have the youngest population in the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect sort of ground for effective life science research and development and I want to get the next building moving.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s in excess of three thousand jobs, probably another three thousand jobs after that – I think that\u2019s critical for Selly Oak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to get the services improved,\u201d he added. \u201cI mean bins but also the collective services across Selly Oak as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n What Birmingham City Council has said about HMOs<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year, Birmingham City Council<\/a> was asked about residents\u2019 concerns over HMOs and exempt accommodation in the Selly Oak constituency.<\/p>\n![\"Selly](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2024-07-24-at-162421_censored.jpg\")
Selly Oak resident Elsa Ralph(Image: Alexander Brock)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2024-07-24-at-162423-2jpeg.jpg\")
A pile of bin bags in Selly Oak.(Image: Alexander Brock)<\/p>\n