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NUS & Landlord outrage at government shared housing crackdown
10 August 2009Government proposals allowing councils to prevent people living in affordable shared houses have sparked furious opposition from landlords and students.
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Ministers want to clamp down on houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) - homes rented by six or more unrelated people - as a part of a knee-jerk reaction to so-called ‘studentification’. Problems with anti-social behaviour have arisen around high concentrations of HMOs, drawing complaints from locals about litter, noise and towns becoming empty during holidays.
With a new consultation, the government is pressing ahead with measures to clear students out of residential areas. But immigrants, young professionals and others who rent HMOs will also be affected.
Property experts say that using planning laws to restrict HMOs will raise rents and drive out the students, young professionals and immigrants who rent them because they are affordable. Local businesses, particularly those which rely on student custom, also face being hit if students are driven out.
The move is also a wholesale contradiction of social integration policies, which the government have promoted to ensure that ‘sink estates’ are not recreated.
NUS has joined forces with property groups in condemning the plans as a ‘nimby’s charter’ which would create student ghettos and dictate where people live based on their income.
The British Property Federation, National Landlords Association, Residential Landlords Association, and NUS all say the proposals will not help and that similar moves failed in Northern Ireland.
The property industry wants a local management option to tackle the problems without further legislation. This could take into account local circumstances and offer a cost effective solution to the problem.
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said:
“You can’t use the planning system for social engineering or to tackle anti-social behaviour. Only a tiny fraction of places suffer from a high concentrations of HMOs and using a broad brush approach to deal with different issues relating to anti-social behaviour makes no sense. It’s vital that the property market is left flexible and we hope ministers will head our warnings and reconsider going down the legislative route.”
Richard Price, director of operations, National Landlords Association, said:
“Planning is about buildings; homes are about people. Changing HMO planning regulations in order to allow small groups of vociferous local residents to discriminate against certain parts of the community is not helpful. Students, migrant workers and other people looking for affordable and more flexible accommodation are already a part of normal community life. Where there are problems, the current proposals would encourage local authorities to use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.”
Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students said:
"Students live and work within their communities and contribute hugely to their local areas through charity work and campaigning on local issues, not to mention the massive boost they give to the local economy. These proposals would marginalise students by forcing them to pay private companies to live in large ghettos away from the rest of the community. This would do nothing to improve community cohesion.
"We must also remember that it is not just students who live in HMOs. Many young professionals and migrant workers share houses - it is extremely foolish to propose that we displace all of these people in the middle of a housing crisis. It is critical that the government takes a thoughtful and consultative approach to any problems that may have arisen in certain areas, rather than resorting to an ineffective headline-grabbing initiative."
Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association, said:
“It’s a classic case of nimbyism. Small but vociferous interest groups do not want students and migrants living near them. Their actions threaten the economic wealth of an area and the wellbeing of students, young people and the varied local businesses that depend on them. The move also threatens the mortgage value of rented properties. Planning permission can affect the marketability and value of property, forcing landlords to repay capital on their loans, or sell, resulting in loss of homes for tenants.”
Richard Chesterman, 23, a law graduate living in a shared house in Islington, north London, said:
“It’s a disgrace that students could be face being barred from living in places just because they’re students. There will always be a minority of people who cause trouble, but shipping everyone out of integrated society by banning the very shared houses that are affordable to young professionals would be massively damaging to everyone.”
Chris Town, an HMO landlord in Leeds, said:
“HMOs are often large and therefore difficult and expensive to convert into a different use, such as flats or family housing. The government’s proposal will put a severe constriction on the flexibility of property markets to adapt to local circumstances. As a result, it is possible that many derelict buildings will remain so as planning permission may be turned down on account of there being too many HMO properties in that area. The only result is likely to be decreased investment in local communities and increased blight.”
Amanda Williams, spokeswoman for UNITE, the UK’s leading student accommodation developer, said:
“HMOs and purpose built accommodation are both vital elements in the overall mix of private rented housing. However, there’s a significant variation in quality standards and UNITE believes that all landlords should adhere to a professional management plan and a code of standards. Students must be provided with a choice of accommodation, and adequate and appropriate housing should be planned and targeted.”
For more information and all PR and media queries, please contact Andrew Teacher, Head of Media, on 020 7802 0113/ 07968 124545/ ateacher@bpf.org.uk
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