Councils get tough on planning for shared student houses

Student landlords may face a downturn in lettings in Hull after the city council voted to limit the number of shared homes around the university. Hull City Council is introducing special planning powers for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in the Newlands Road neighbourhood - the traditional area for students to live. Any small HMO for three to five unrelated tenants must have planning approval before letting under the scheme. Existing shared houses do not need permission - but will need to register with the council. properties for six or more tenants already need to register with the council. Landlords and Hull Student Union vigorously opposed the move with a 850 signature petition, lobbying and demonstrations, all to no avail. The protesters feel fewer students will come to the city as they will face longer journey times to reach the campus. A seven-week consultation about introducing the planning powers to control student letting in Bath has just ended. Landlords, students and the National Landlords Association have all spoken out against the proposed scheme. Meanwhile, letting agents and tenants in Oxford, which has imposed a citywide ban on small HMOs claim landlords are switching shared homes to single lets to avoid fees and other costs under the scheme. Several couples have been made homeless as a result of the switch, which letting agents have claimed is having an unforeseen effect on the number of letting properties available in the city. The council estimated the city has around 5,000 HMOs. East Oxford residents claim the council’s planning policies for students and universities are a sham after months of arguing about whether the city’s two universities could move in to multi-million pound developments after they broke rules about allowing students to live outside of halls of residence. Planning rules say if each university has more than 3,000 students living in private rentals, they were banned from occupying the new developments. Both universities broke the cap by a couple of hundred students, but the council is letting them move.

Landlord blog

Sam Dickinson

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