At a meeting held by the City of Durham Parish Council, concerns were raised regarding the excessive waste from student properties that are improperly discarded on public streets.
More than 4,000 properties in Durham city are registered as student properties and are therefore exempt from paying any Council Tax. In the financial year 2020/21, a total of £8,797,335 was lost in Council Tax revenue due to these student exemptions.
Student properties are exempt from council tax.
Chairman of the City of Durham Parish Council, Cllr. Alan Doig says: “As a community, we recognise and value the important role which Durham University and its students play in sustaining local employment and services in the city centre.
“However, in Durham city, we are now in the position that a significant number of properties are being used as student accommodation and therefore exempt from paying any council tax towards local services for the city.”
£52 annual contribution.
To address the issue, the council is asking for a contribution of £52 annually - an increase from £34 last year - from its student landlords to match the amount paid by residents. This request comes in consideration of the mounds of furniture and rubbish left on streets after students vacated their homes last year.
Cllr. Alan Doig clarifies that the annual contributions will be invested in projects such as the Neighbourhood Wardens who are committed to maintaining the attractiveness of the city environment and improving the community.
The new scheme saw support from both Councillors and student landlords as the request was approved at the Full Council meeting in March.
Student landlord supports the move.
Student landlord and fellow Parish Councillor Cllr. Hellen West supported the decision, saying: “As a fellow student property owner myself, I fully endorse the work of the parish council to safeguard the residents of this city and to ensure that the city is kept clean and enjoyable for all.”
The council announced it will be writing to all landlords before the end of April with the request and seem hopeful that this will help resolve some of the issues the city is facing.
Durham City is not alone in the struggle to combat rubbish left behind by students.
In 2021, Birmingham City Council had to send extra refuse crews to the Selly Oak area to help clear the mountains of waste left by students who had gone home for the summer.
In relation to the issue, Councillor Brigid Jones said: “We picked up 100 tons of waste over the last few days, but as quickly as we pick it up, more comes out.”
In 2022, Cardiff Council provided additional facilities in an attempt to lessen the rubbish left by their university students during the move-out season. While the city provided a pop-up recycling centre and a pick-up recycling takeaway van, residents were still left unhappy and surrounded by the piles of rubbish littering the streets.
Both Liverpool and Leeds have seen similar situations and councils have been regularly asked to intervene.
Most cities with a high population of students find themselves dealing with the issue of discarded rubbish as students are moving their belongings from one house to another in a very short timescale.
Many student tenancies end on June 30 and their following tenancies begin on July 1. This one-day layover leaves students essentially ‘homeless’ and forced to face the issue of where to stay and keep their belongings. This likely plays a large role in the rubbish left behind as students are discarding the belongings they deem less important in an effort to conserve space.
In 2021, Kate Loewenthal, chairwoman of the Lenton Drives and Neighbours Residents Association in Nottingham made a call for action, saying: “The universities know this happens every year and they should be doing something about it, we have the same issues and every year they fail miserably to sort it out.”
The City of Durham Parish Council is taking some of the responsibility off the university by asking for a contribution from its student landlords. The council remains optimistic that the new scheme will tackle some of the issues the city is facing and ensure that residents – whether student or non-student – can continue to enjoy everything the city has to offer.
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