Councillors are ignoring pleas from students and landlords to set up a no-go zone for shared houses in Southampton.
Southampton City Council voted the ban on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) after neighbours complained about noise, litter and bad behaviour by tenants.
The ban on HMOs under an article 4 direction means from March, any new shared house with three or more renters will need planning permission.
Some HMOs, with three or more floors or over 6 tenants, already need planning permission to open.
Current HMOs are not subject to the ruling and can carry on trading as normal.
The decision follows protests from residents in the city’s Polygon and Portswood neighbourhoods.
Shared homes in the city are mainly let by private landlords to students.
The move is supported by Southampton’s Labour MP John Denman, the former housing minister whose decision to bring in new rules to ban shared houses without planning permission was overturned by Housing Minister Grant Shapps.
Instead of legislating against HMOs, Shapps argued councils could impose the same rules through article 4 of the Town & Country Planning Act.
Landlords in the city, backed by students, have spoken out against the council decision to no avail.
They claim the new rules will reduce accommodation for students in the city as landlords pull out of the market.
Southampton has joined a group of around 30 councils in England to bring in curbs against student housing.
“Article 4 directions affect small HMOs which are just the sort of houses or flats which can be used by families or young people,” said a spokesman for the Residential Landlords Association.
“Shared houses and flats are popular with young people because they provide affordable housing.
“Young people are valuable to the local economy – they use the shops, pubs, takeaways and cafes and restaurants. Drive them away and the businesses will go too.”
