03 October 2008
The government is proposing changes to planning laws to combat the problem of students dominating whole areas of university towns.
The proposals from the Department for Communities and Local Government include capping the concentration of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). They are likely to be put to Parliament in a housing green paper later this year.
The growth of the UK's student population to almost 2.5 million has led to residents being priced out of the low-cost housing market. It has also resulted in some services closing because of under-use, said a DCLG report.
Housing and planning minister Caroline Flint said: 'It is not acceptable that current rental practices allow unplanned student enclaves to evolve to such an extent that local communities are left as ghost towns following the summer student exodus.'
In the report, Evidence gathering: housing in multiple occupation and possible planning responses, the government proposes enabling councils to define an HMO as 'any dwelling of three or more people from two or more households' and to restrict their frequency in any area – a measure that has already been taken in Northern Ireland.
Capping and controlling the distribution of HMOs by using the local planning system could set up 'areas of restraint'. This has been shown to help balance communities. Nottingham has already established a threshold of 25% per neighbourhood.
Liberal Democrat communities and local government spokeswoman Julia Goldsworthy said: 'The government has consistently failed to take changes, such as an increase in the student population, into account when setting local authority grants.'
Residential Landlords Association spokesman Richard Jones said: '[It] is a byproduct of a massive growth in the student population as a result of the government's policy for more school-leavers to be educated to degree standard.' But he added: 'To move the undergraduates into halls of residence will lead to year-round destruction of many local economies, where shops, bars, service business and community facilities have emerged to satisfy student needs.'
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