Residents plea against student housing U-turn

THEY have been blamed for the rise in so-called 'student ghettos' in parts of Hampshire’s university cities.

Today fed-up residents are making a last ditch plea to ministers to rethink a change in the law that allows councils to clamp down on the rise of shared homes in Southampton.

The coalition Government has overturned widespread restrictions on houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) and instead told councils that they will have to make specific applications – similar to those used in conservation areas – to toughen up planning rules in problem areas.

The Government says that it wants to avoid “tying landlords in red tape”.

Campaigners from Southampton and across the south are meeting housing minister Grant Shapps in Westminster to call for the system to be beefed up.

Jerry Gillen, chairman of Highfield Residents’ Association in Southampton, said he feared that there will be a surge of landlords converting family homes into HMOs.

It is feared that the lengthy process, which critics claim can take up to five years, gives landlords a free run.

Mr Gillen said: “This is a massive issue for the whole city.

There has been an accelerated loss of family homes. We are not against any particular group of occupants or against HMOs but restrictions are needed.

Parts of the city are becoming ghettoised.

“In areas where there is a high number of HMOs it sucks out the community and leads to services disappearing, like primary schools.”

In April, the previous Labour Government brought into force laws requiring landlords wanting to rent out a family dwelling to three or more unrelated people to apply for planning consent.

It followed a lengthy campaign to halt the proliferation of HMOs in areas like Polygon and Portswood and curb related problems of noise, littering and other antisocial behaviour.

City Labour MPs have attacked the changes, claiming that councils will have to compensate landlords if they retrospectively withdraw planning permissions and that the cost of managing the planning process will be borne entirely by the local authority rather than shared between the landlord and council.

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said: “What has happened with these changes, which are frankly unbelievable amendments to the April changes, is that local people have been denied the opportunity to take back control of how their communities are balanced and planned by their local authorities.”

Southampton Itchen MP John Denham said that the changes were “no substitute” for the comprehensive and workable plan for HMO regulation he developed as the former Communities Secretary.

“Even local Tories claimed they supported the HMO regulation that was brought in by Labour, so now it looks like they’ve once again been snubbed by their own Government,” he said.

Mr Shapps said: “Where too many shared homes are causing problems for other residents or changing the character of a neighbourhood, councils should be able to control their spread.

But I’m not going to create unnecessary costs for landlords, which puts the supply of rented homes at risk.”

Southampton City Council, whose planners branded the rule changes a “retrograde step”, said that it was now looking at the best way to use the new Article 4 powers “where they are appropriate”.

The council said that it was also working with communities and organisations to make sure that plenty of houses remain as family homes in the city.