Shaw residents mounted a roadside protest Sunday to push back against what they call a tide of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) swamping their town.

More than 50 neighbours gathered outside Shaw War Memorial and Lifelong Learning Centre, waving placards reading “We don’t want your HMO” as passing drivers sounded their horns in support. The demonstration followed Oldham Council’s refusal of plans to turn the former Crompton Health Centre into a 22-bed HMO, but campaigners say the proposal crystallised years of anger over the steady loss of shops and services while shared houses multiply.

“HMOs are flooding into our town and we’re not getting any investment,” organiser Beverley McManus told the Local Democracy Reporting Service before the rally. “We can already see how the town has deteriorated. The townsfolk have had enough. We want regeneration.” McManus warned that roads, GPs and dentists could be overwhelmed, while others fear rising anti-social behaviour.

An online petition launched by residents has already collected 1,300 signatures and was circulated in paper form among Sunday’s crowd. Signatory Shirley wrote: “Shaw is getting all our history deleted by using our buildings for unsuitable projects,” adding that while “HMO users need a place to live”, Shaw is taking “the lion’s share” of applications.

Exact numbers are hard to pin down because properties housing fewer than six people need no planning permission and therefore go unregistered. Councillors Elaine Taylor and Peter Davis will ask the full council on Wednesday to back a plea to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for tighter rules. Their motion says HMOs in Oldham have “almost doubled” in five years, creating “overcrowding and pressures on local services”, and argues current legislation “limits the ability of local authorities to manage their spread and ensure they are appropriately located and regulated”.

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