Nottingham HMO Wins Gold and Sets a New Standard in Crime Prevention Design

HMOs, or House in Multiple Occupancy, are often lived in by unrelated people from separate households who may share a kitchen or communal area but have private secured bedrooms. Statistics 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. For example, the original plans specified internal standard FD30 fire doors which could easily be broken into, instead of robust doors to protect each individual’s private space and belongings.

Before the development:

Anti-crime measures don’t just benefit the individual, high crime can be extremely detrimental to the community in general and Nick and his colleague, DOCO Neil Bellamy, worked hard to build good relationships with Nottingham’s seven local authorities and city council to promote Secured by Design, 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 Secured by Design standards to be implemented throughout.

Nick 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”.

It was key that Nick spent time explaining the benefits of Secured by Design to the developer and presented them with evidence and crime statistics. The proposed development was 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, soon 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 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. SBD accredited windows, locks and doors have been used throughout. The development has lifted and transformed the area and new tenants have now moved into the property.

“It was a challenging project at first” commented Nick, “But after spending time talking to everyone about the benefits of SBD and once everyone had bought into the concept it has been overwhelmingly positive”.

“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”, Tony Drury, Owner and Director 4M4G Homes Limited.

Michael Brooke, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Police CPI said, “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. I actively encourage all developers, architects and planners to reach out to their local DOCO and begin the conversation about how they too can work together to achieve the many and wide ranging benefits that Secured by Design is proved to deliver. Great credit to all involved here.”

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What is Secured by Design?

Secured by Design (SBD) is the official police security initiative that works to improve the security of buildings and their immediate surroundings to provide safe places to live, work, shop and visit.

SBD’s product based accreditation scheme – the Police Preferred Specification - provides a recognised standard for all security products that can deter and reduce crime.

There are currently many hundreds of companies producing thousands of attack resistant crime prevention products, across 30 different crime categories, which have achieved Police Preferred Specification.

Improved security

Developers around the UK can achieve SBD awards for incorporating crime prevention measures and techniques into their developments in all kinds of building sectors, such as residential, education, health, transport, commercial, retail, sport and leisure. Indeed, SBD can be used as evidence to discharge third-party obligations under Part Q of Schedule 1 (Security) to the English Building Regulations, the Scottish Building Standard 4.13 (Security) and Welsh Building Regulations Part Q (Security – Dwellings). These awards are gained by working with police Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs), who advise architects, developers and local authority planners long before construction begins – and continue to provide advice and guidance until the development is complete. 

Academic and other research shows that improving standards of security in brand new and refurbished properties, helps deter and reduce crime. Reducing crime and the fear of crime has direct links to better physical and mental well-being, such as with regard to high volume crimes like domestic abuse. 

The built environment influences the behaviour of people who work, live, socialise or simply pass through. SBD seeks to create environments where the law-abiding feel safe and secure whilst at the same time causing the criminal or anti-social to feel vulnerable to detection and thereby influence behaviour in a positive way. This continues to be a key objective for SBD.

Find out more about SBD Developers Awards here.

SBD Design Guides

SBD has produced a series of authoritative Design Guides to assist the building, design and construction industry to incorporate security into developments to comply with the Building Regulations in England, Scotland and Wales and meet the requirements of SBD.

These Design Guides, available to download for free at the SBD website, have been updated over the years to keep pace with changing patterns of criminal behaviour and advances in building design and new technology.

They are a valuable source of reference to architects, developers, self-builders, local authority planners and police officers and cover a range of building sectors, including residential, education, health, transport and commercial. 

Police Designing Out Crime Officers

DOCOs provide specialist crime reduction advice to the public, businesses and colleagues about premises or property security. They also work with building developers, architects, and council planning departments regarding new developments and refurbishments, to 'design out' crimes like burglary and anti-social behaviour (ASB) by providing advice on street lighting, building and street layout, entrances and exits - as well as preferred standards and specifications for doors, windows, and locks, under the Secured by Design initiative.

DOCOs are able to deliver site specific interventions required to help design out crime in areas that suffer disproportionately from acquisitive crime, based on local crime pattern analysis, police, local authority and community engagement and the collective knowledge and experience of how criminals behave.

DOCOs are specialist problem solvers, working every day to make a positive difference, changing lives for the better and helping people to be safe and secure in their homes.

Contact details for local DOCOs can be found here.