A Reform candidate standing in a Wigan council by-election who has pledged to reduce the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in the borough has been accused of hypocrisy.

This was after it was revealed that Lee Moffitt has a company which manages three HMOs for private landlords.

But he said: “Neither I, nor any business that I own, HAVE ever owned nor WILL ever own, an HMO.”

Mr Moffitt is one of six candidates standing in the Wigan Central by-election on October 2, which was triggered by the death of Labour councillor George Davies.

Reform UK Lee Moffitt (right) on the campaign trail

placeholder image — Reform UK Lee Moffitt (right) on the campaign trail

Mr Moffitt is the director of several property firms in the town, including LV Property Group and Lobster Lettings.

Recently, one of those companies advertised rooms for rent in HMOs online, leading to a backlash on social media.

Mr Moffit responded on Facebook, saying that one of the companies of which he is a director has managed approximately three HMOs for private landlords for nearly 10 years and that such properties are populated by “working people”.

He wrote: “None of them have ever been occupied by illegal migrants or used as a halfway house for former prisoners.”

He added that no company he owned had owned, or ever would own, an HMO.

Meanwhile, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “If the Reform Party candidate in Wigan says he wants fewer HMOs, but his own company runs three of them, that doesn’t seem fair. He’s saying one thing and doing the opposite.

"Does he only want to stop the ones he’s not making money from? The Reform Party often shouts and blames others, but when people ask them how they would actually fix problems, they usually don’t have a real answer. And when they do have a plan, it often doesn’t make sense when people look closely. It’s important that people who want to be leaders are honest and have good ideas that actually work."

But Mr Moffitt said: “Whilst I do own part of a property management company that manages three HMOs, this is a tiny part of the hundreds of residential properties that they have under management.

"Whilst I am committed to reducing the exorbitant amount of HMOs in Wigan, (which the Labour council has allowed to spiral beyond 280) that isn’t to say that there is no place for HMOs at all, when used for the right purposes.

"Whilst Labour seem to be more concerned with any commitments that I have made to the people of Wigan, a review of their candidates literature offers no such commitment at all."

HMOs have been a hot topic in Wigan, as elsewhere, for many years.

On the one hand some of them have gained a poor reputation for attracting residents or tenants deemed to have brought down a neighbourhood.

On the other they are seen as one of the solutions to the borough’s affordable accommodation crisis, sometimes bringing large and empty buildings back into use.

Apart from Reform’s Mr Moffitt, the other candidates standing on October 2 are Adam Boon (Labour); John Burley (Liberal Democrats); Gareth Fairhurst (Wigan Independents); Paul Martin (Conservative and Unionist)and Simeon Rowlands (Greens).