Birmingham state-funded HMO housing linked to third of city’s murders in the last two years

More than 13,000 properties in the city are now either supported exempt accommodation properties or HMOs.

The properties are home to 34,000 people, most with no connection to Birmingham.

Those numbers have tripled since the Government first pledged a crackdown back in 2018, when there were 11,000 people.

Out of 151 murders in the last two years across the West Midlands, most occurring in Birmingham, 56 were linked to the HMOs and exempt sectors, either occurring inside a property or involving an offender or victim living in one.

Superintendent at West Midlands Police Haroon Chughtai, who revealed the finding, told BirminghamLive: “That is just one area of crime that we have looked at.

“There is a lot of other offending that takes place in these properties.”

The exempt sector is a specialist type of HMO that is wholly funded by state benefits.

Investigating the cost of such properties, BirminghamLive found the Government was paying £6,400 a month to an exempt provider to house four people in a standard terraced house.

The same house would normally warrant a monthly rent of around £1,200.

Claims of more than £400 a week are being paid for each person housed in the sector, all coming from the Department of Work and Pensions.

The sector is now worth £450million per year in Birmingham alone.

According to the city’s council, new Government regulations designed to root out rogues were first promised in 2023, but are currently still out for consultation.

The legislation may be introduced in 2027, but won’t bring practical change until 2028.

In response to the investigation, Regulator for Social Housing’s chief executive Jonathan Walters said: “The problems with exempt accommodation are having a real impact on people’s lives in Birmingham.

“There are too many cases of vulnerable tenants not getting enough support and this is causing wider issues for communities too.

“Most exempt accommodation falls outside the social housing sector, so our powers are limited in a lot of cases. But we take strong action when we can against rogue social landlords who don’t meet our standards. We also publish our findings to support other agencies in their response.

“We are tackling conflicts of interests where landlords don’t put tenants’ needs first. We are also making landlords fix health and safety issues to ensure tenants are safe.

“And we are ordering landlords to improve the way they are run – using our powers to appoint board members and managers when needed.”

GB News has approached the Department of Housing for comment.