Planners bid to halt student ‘ghettos’

Stringent new planning restrictions are to come in force in York from next month in a bid to stop student ‘ghettos’ spreading across the city.

The council’s cabinet will meet next week to agree to introducing new rules forcing landlords to seek planning permission to turn a property into a house of multiple occupation (HMO) which are usually occupied by students.

It will also look to manage the number of HMOs in any single neighbourhood or street.

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There has been a marked rise in the past decade of HMOs across a number of areas in the city including the Clifton and Guildhall wards and Hull Road,

Council officers have warned high numbers of houses of multiple occupation can lead to increased levels of crime, and fear of crime, noise, littering, pressures on parking and properties becoming run-down and in a state of disrepair.

Local services such as schools, shops, doctors and dental surgeries can also disappear due to a lack of demand.

Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, York Council cabinet member for housing and adult services, said: “This paper seeks to strike a sensible balance on the issue of houses of multiple occupation.

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“It offers a policy that could help ensure increases in HMOs in York are managed, maintain balanced communities, and protect more family accommodation for that purpose.”

The new legislation is also coming into force as the Government’s cuts to housing benefit from April 2012 are also widely anticipated to lead to more people seeking rooms in houses of multiple occupation across the city.

The cabinet will meet on April 3 to approve the changes, following a public consultation of 3,000 people across the city, which ran from January 26 to March 5.

Large student cities such as Leeds and Manchester have already implemented planning approval being required for new HMOs.