Anger Over House-share Cuts Plan - Threat To Hmo

[ScaredEitherWay]

Landlords and the National Union of Students (NUS) have rejected government proposals to limit house-sharing.

The government may give councils the power to limit the number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in one area.

Locals complained that too many HMOs lead to problems of anti-social behaviour as well as areas being left empty during holidays.

The plan's opponents say the powers would affect migrant workers and young professionals as well as students.

"It is extremely foolish to propose that we displace all of these people in the middle of a housing crisis," said Wes Streeting, president of the NUS.

'Real problem'

A spokesman for Communities and Local Government said: "Students bring benefits to the places they live in, but too many residing in one area can impact negatively on a community".

"This is a real problem in many communities across England, which is why Communities Secretary John Denham is committed to finding a long term solution to current rental practices."

The idea would be to limit the number of houses in a single area in which more than six unrelated people are living.

The government is currently looking at the responses to its consultation and will decide whether to make any changes to the plans "in the near future".

In a report about so-called studentification last September, John Denham said, "Cities including Liverpool, Loughborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Southampton and Bristol have reported more empty properties during the summer meaning shops, businesses, community facilities and pubs simply close down creating 'ghost towns'."

"In addition there can be anti-social behaviour, litter and parking problems during term time."

The NUS, together with the British Property Federation, Federation of Small Businesses, National Landlords Association and Residential Landlords Association, has sent a letter to Mr Denham.

The letter describes the proposals as discriminatory, and says they "should not be enacted to control what is a problem in only a very small number of wards around the country".

Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association also pointed out that the proposals could cause problems for mortgage-holders.

"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."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8192287.stm

[HPCbeliever]

The LLs and students might be against. However there are lorts of people living in areas completely blighted by HMOs.

[Frank Hovis]

The LLs and students might be against. However there are lorts of people living in areas completely blighted by HMOs.

Yes, try parking there. The odd one is fine, but you get a lot together and it changes the area.

[bomberbrown]

The LLs and students might be against. However there are lorts of people living in areas completely blighted by HMOs.

Primarily the poor gits that have to live in the modern day slave boxes.

[@contradevian]

They have always had these powers. In the 1980's Northampton Borough Council decided the area I lived in had too many houses of multiple occupation and wouldn't give planning permission for one.

[ScaredEitherWay]

When they created all these new Unis they created this need for term-time accommodatin within small radii.

I'm sure years ago more people lived on campus, but I could be wrong.

[porca misèria]

Looks to me as if they're confusing more than one different issues (as usual). Like, for example, students == young people == chavs, which seems to be a prevalent stereotype amongst meeja types.

[deeplyblue]

Looks to me as if they're confusing more than one different issues (as usual). Like, for example, students == young people == chavs, which seems to be a prevalent stereotype amongst meeja types.

Well, the vast majority of students are young people - not all, but most. As for chavs - well, we used to live in one of Newcastle's inner suburbs (Jesmond), which used to be mostly "genteel", with a few areas where students had taken over rather squalid old Victorian houses. Then the students left, and the area went quiet, and then we got a rash of bars, and the students came back again. Only this time they all had cars, and lived in the same Victorian houses, but done up. And, of course, they found it very convenient to have the bars to hand.

A neighbour of ours once went out to ask a group of young people who had, at 2 a.m. just been turfed out of the bars, to make a little less noise, as they had to get up the next morning. One of the group of rowdies turned to him and said, "Jesmond is a student area now, if you don't like it, move."

Which suggests to me that in some student minds the status "student" means "allows to behave like rowdy irresponsible thugs if we want to - we don't have to listen to old people telling us what to do any more." Which rather adds up to "chav" in my mind.

db

[pete.hpc]

Time To Lower Your Trousers

[interestrateripoff]

If this does happen it looks like some landlords maths won't add up, no wonder they are upset.

[Mrs Bear]

Well, the vast majority of students are young people - not all, but most. As for chavs - well, we used to live in one of Newcastle's inner suburbs (Jesmond), which used to be mostly "genteel", with a few areas where students had taken over rather squalid old Victorian houses. Then the students left, and the area went quiet, and then we got a rash of bars, and the students came back again. Only this time they all had cars, and lived in the same Victorian houses, but done up. And, of course, they found it very convenient to have the bars to hand.

A neighbour of ours once went out to ask a group of young people who had, at 2 a.m. just been turfed out of the bars, to make a little less noise, as they had to get up the next morning. One of the group of rowdies turned to him and said, "Jesmond is a student area now, if you don't like it, move."

Which suggests to me that in some student minds the status "student" means "allows to behave like rowdy irresponsible thugs if we want to - we don't have to listen to old people telling us what to do any more." Which rather adds up to "chav" in my mind.

db

Younger daughter spent 2 years in student houses in Jesmond, several yrs ago now. At the time I thought it amazing that such a lovely area housed so many students. Anywhere even half as nice in the SE would have been way too expensive for the vast majority. The rent for her rooms in large houses was roughly half what a friend of hers was paying in London for a share of a seriously dismal dive.

Hope she wasn't one of the rowdies

[bearwithasorehead]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8192287.stm

It will be completely unenforceable to limit HMOs. There are so many student type houses where there are more people living, sharing bedrooms than the lettings agencies or landlords know about.

[AteMoose]

HMOs are something the gov wants to get rid of. It reduces that tax income, and it is more ecological as it saves resources and space, it isn't part of the consumer ideal. If you ban HMO's the people need to buy or rent property in smaller groups, or ideally individually which means much more tax income.

[deeplyblue]

Younger daughter spent 2 years in student houses in Jesmond, several yrs ago now. At the time I thought it amazing that such a lovely area housed so many students. Anywhere even half as nice in the SE would have been way too expensive for the vast majority. The rent for her rooms in large houses was roughly half what a friend of hers was paying in London for a share of a seriously dismal dive.

Hope she wasn't one of the rowdies

Well, you know her best - there are a few students who are all meek and mild at home and tearways at college, but not many.

Interesting fact which an acquaintance passed on. Where she lived, the houses were mostly occupied by students at Durham University. They commuted to lectures or laboratories each day (by car) and returned in the evening to the night life of Newcastle. This also made economic sense, since student accommodation in Durham itself is ferociously expensive.

This, and other student lifestyle demands, made the biggest headache in Jesmond a question of parking. If you wanted to know whether the parking problem was student-related a quick look at the difference between term time and vacation would settle the matter. All of sudden the streets were half empty of cars. Term time arrived and there was nowhere to park on the street.

Another friend who lives in Heaton (slightly downmarket of Jesmond, but not bandit country), said that she also had problems parking as the house next to her was student-occupied and there were no fewer than 6 cars belonging to the occupants.

Back in Jesmond, it was often said (though rarely proved) that southern parents found that they could buy a nice house in Jesmond for a fairly undemanding sum (especially if Grannie had just died leaving a house in Epsom to be sold). They sent their offspring up to Newcastle, where they could live the student lifestyle, rent free and with a comforting 200 miles plus between offspring and parents, to their mutual relief. Offspring could help finance their own student years by letting out the spare rooms to their friends, and then at the end of the course, you sold the house, pocketing a nice little amount of capital gain (since property always goes up!). And, of course, if you specify the house as the offspring's main residence, there's no CGT to be paid.

But even if the property went down, the convenience and potential income from it during the student's time in Newcastle made it pretty much a one-way bet.

Come Friday night there were a lot of hooray-Henry/Henrietta accents to be heard in my bit of Jesmond, and some of them were unreasonably raised at an unreasonable hour with, as I said in my previous post, the assumption that they were entitled. Jesmond has many admirable features, but, ATM, too many students, and too many bars.

However, I'm sure your daughter was a model citizen

db