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Matriarch Cynthia Leveridge has lived on Princes Street in Mansfield for 47 years and barely draws breath as she recites the litany of sins for which her new neighbours are allegedly responsible: 'Drinking, swearing, shouting, druggin,' she says.
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she → see → which
'It used to be lovely here.
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It → use → ?
Everyone knew everyone.
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Everyone → know → everyone
It used to be quiet.
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It → use → ?
Children could play in the park.
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Children → play → park
That's all changed now,' she adds.
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she → change → ?
Like many people here, Cynthia, 75, has watched in disbelief as her once-quiet suburban street has absorbed an influx of new arrivals.
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street → watch → arrivals
That's because over the past few years, numerous three-bedroom terrace properties on Princes Street – once dominated by local families – have been transformed into 'houses in multiple occupation' (HMOs) as landlords seek to cream enormous profits from squeezing ever-greater numbers of tenants into ever-smaller properties.
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landlords → dominate → properties
Local residents, such as Cynthia, now accuse the council of turning a blind eye to the practice.
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residents → accuse → practice
They say it erodes social cohesion and has doubled the number of cars, led to a spike in anti-social behaviour and left street bins overflowing.
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it → say → bins
Things came to a head on September 15 when the owners of number 13 Princes Street – already a licensed HMO for six tenants – applied for planning permission to squeeze ten people inside the modest property.
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owners → come → property
The three-storey home – which originally had three bedrooms – was renovated to have six bedrooms, two on each floor.
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which → have → floor
The latest plans aim to 'retrofit' four of the bedrooms to make space for couples as well as fitting five of the bedrooms with hob cookers.
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plans → aim → cookers
Meanwhile, the garden will be subsumed by no fewer than nine wheelie bins.
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garden → subsume → bins
Bizarrely, the owners described the property in planning proposals as 'underutilised' to justify the expansion from six to ten occupants.
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owners → describe → occupants
To the dismay of many, the plan has since been approved with conditions.
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plan → approve → conditions
Residents on Princes Street in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, say their neighbourhood is being overwhelmed by the growing number of HMOs
Locals in the area have complained of a loss of the area's long-standing community spirit
Things came to a head on September 15 when the owners of number 13 Princes Street – already a licensed HMO for six tenants – applied for planning permission to squeeze ten people inside the modest property
As one irate resident put it sagely, 'that sounds like a hotel, not a home'.
So how did Princes Street become a byword for the HMO crisis taking over many parts of residential Britain?
Government guidelines state an HMO is any property shared by at least three people from more than one household.
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HMO → say → household
In other words, people from different families living together and sharing facilities such as a bathroom or kitchen.
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people → live → bathroom
However, with single renters and even couples increasingly unable to afford their own property, demand for shared housing has grown – indeed, by 2.3 per cent from 2024 to 2025.
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demand → afford → 2025
Landlords have rushed to adapt their assets and cash in on the chance to charge a fee per room rather than for the whole house.
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Landlords → rush → house
In 2024 that figure rose to 57,725.
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figure → rise → 57,725
One of the reasons behind the surge in HMOs relates to the Government's attempts to move asylum seekers from hotels into communities to reduce the asylum bill.
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One → relate → bill
Matthew Pennycook, the Minister for Housing and Planning, admitted in the Commons earlier this year: 'Dispersed accommodation, including HMOs, is an important tool that local authorities can use to accommodate those seeking refuge as their claims are assessed.'
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claims → admit → refuge
In 2023, 28,000 asylum seekers had been placed in 6,000 HMOs, a number that is thought to have risen in the past three years.
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that → place → years
The total cost of supporting asylum seekers is more than £4billion a year, an increasing share of which goes to the private landlords of HMO properties.
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share → support → properties
Last month, Breckland District Council in Norfolk took steps to make it harder for homes to be repurposed into HMOs after government officials indicated a desire to move 240 asylum seekers into such properties in the area.
So just how many HMOs are there on Princes Street?
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officials → take → Street
If official Mansfield Council records are to be believed, the answer is a mere three.
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answer → believe → ?
Mansfield Council insists on an HMO licence only for so-called 'large HMOs': those housing five or more tenants.
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Council → insist → tenants
This is, of course, more than the official figure of three tenants that actually makes a property an HMO in law.
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property → make → law
The council does not collect or release information on properties beneath the five-person threshold, meaning the true number of HMOs on Princes Street is unknown.
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number → collect → Street
'There are definitely more than they're saying,' says 36-year-old Arthur, who rents a property on the street.
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who → be → street
'Whether it's because they don't need a licence or just haven't bothered and the council won't do anything, I don't know.
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I → need → anything
But house prices are pricing ordinary families out and the landlords are charging people like students huge amounts, sometimes £800 a room each month when it should be half of that for a box room in a shared house.
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it → price → house
Residents say Princes Street, in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, is crowded and full of strangers
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Street → say → strangers
Indeed, according to Rightmove, the hammer price for properties on Princes Street has risen 36 per cent on last year.
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price → accord → year
The average price is now about £143,000 while semi-detached properties – often more suitable for conversion into HMOs due to space – are valued at an average of £181,000.
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properties → value → 181,000
'It's close to the train station, which suits students at Nottingham University,' Arthur explained.
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Arthur → suit → University
'And it's five minutes from the hospital and I know we've got lots of NHS workers living here too.'
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we → know → workers
When the Daily Mail approached the three licensed HMOs on Princes Street this week, those at two of the properties refused to speak or reveal exactly who was staying there.
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who → approach → properties
In a third property, this paper was told – as Arthur alluded to – that healthcare workers were in residence.
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workers → tell → residence
…and 60 more, not listed.
The Aporia
