A 13-bed property comprising of two independent House in Multiple Occupancy’s (HMO) in Nottinghamshire is one of the first to include a local planning condition requiring Secured by Design (SBD) products and standards throughout – and has gone on to achieve a SBD Gold Award.
Statistics reportedly show that HMOs can be more susceptible to crime than private homes or commercial properties due to a general lack of security and the transient nature of many of the occupants.
With this in mind DOCO (Designing out Crime Officer), Nick Butler of Nottinghamshire Police reviewed a planning application in 2022 to convert a series of run-down empty Victorian homes and a defunct social club into two HMO apartment complexes with 6 and 7 bedrooms, both with their own communal entrance.
He quickly identified key design interventions, that if implemented during construction, could reduce crime and create a safer environment for the residents.
Reportedly anti-crime measures don’t just benefit the individual, high crime can be extremely detrimental to the community in general and Butler and his colleague, DOCO Neil Bellamy, worked hard to build good relationships with Nottingham’s seven local authorities and city council to promote SBD, backed up by research and statistics.
As a result, the Newgate Lane project was one of the first HMOs in the country to include a condition that specified using SBD standards to be implemented throughout.
Butler commented: “I wanted to make security for this HMO as good as it could be from the outset, because no one is going to retro fit 13 internal doors for example.
“At first. I think the developer 4M4G Homes Limited probably saw me as an expensive headache!
“They probably thought I was going to charge for my services, having this extra condition would bring a lot of red tape and ultimately this would cost them a lot more overall but that wasn’t the case.”
Butler articulated that it was key that he spent time explaining the benefits of SBD to the developer and presented them with evidence and crime statistics.
The proposed development was reportedly in a very high crime area – showing that all crime and ASB (anti-social behaviour) was in the 97th percentile in the UK and burglary was in the 99th percentile.
This elevated crime risk meant that statistically the residents were more likely to become victims of crime.
Statistics also showed the likelihood of being a repeat victim of house burglary in England and Wales increased exponentially unless crime reduction measures were adopted.
As occupants of HMOs don’t own the properties it’s unlikely that they would be able to adopt any retrospective crime reductions measures like PAS24 doors (police recognised security tested doors).
4M4G Homes Limited, a property development and rental company based in Nottingham, reportedly embraced the concept which would benefit not only their property, but its residents and the area as a whole.
The result is that Newgate Lane has reportedly been built to a high standard – cloud-based top quality CCTV has been installed to monitor the external amenity space, dawn to dusk lighting has been deployed to enhance visibility without disturbing the neighbours and the secure cycle storage is anchored to the wall to prevent theft.
Butler has articulated that SBD accredited windows, locks and doors have also been used throughout.
Tony Drury, Owner and Director at 4M4G Homes Limited said: “It was a real pleasure working with DOCO Nick as he was always available either by the phone or in person on site to advise on how to smoothly navigate the SBD requirements.
“Having Nick onboard with the project at the very earliest stages helped to correctly guide the contractors so that a compliant development was ultimately achieved.
“The Secured by Design certification did incur additional development costs from a materials perspective, but all the consultancy and guidance was totally free.
“Ultimately going down the Secured by Design route improved the quality of the two dwellings for both the tenants and for 4M4G Homes Limited as well as enabling the local council planning conditions to be fulfilled.”
Michael Brooke, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Police CPI highlighted: “This is a great example of what can be achieved by all parties working together.
“Even in this redevelopment scenario, the potential for creating a safe and secure environment for the new residents has been maximised.
“Add to this the benefits of such things as lower repair and maintenance costs due to the quality of the physical security products installed and more stable occupancy levels because of the protection provided, results in positive benefits for all concerned.”
