Use classes could be used to control studentification

The Government has signalled it may emulate Northern Ireland and introduce changes to the Use Classes Order to try to give English planning authorities greater control over 'studentification'.

That is the popular name for the issues raised by concentrations of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), in particular neighbourhoods which are let to students and left dormant during the long summer vacation, creating "ghost towns".

Planning minister Caroline Flint has insisted that this must be tackled. She said it was no longer acceptable "that current practices allow unplanned student enclaves to evolve to such an extent that local communities are left living as ghost towns following the summer student exodus".

Her comments came as Communities and Local Government published a new report which proposed ways councils might manage high concentrations of HMOs.
 
This study, by Ecotec Consulting, suggested that one way of dealing with the problem would involve amending the Use Classes Order (UCO) to provide a definition of HMOs and allow tighter planning controls over them. This approach has already been pioneered in Belfast.

Another tactic suggested by the authors of the report would involve capping and controlling the distribution and dispersal of HMOs by using the local planning system to set up "areas of restraint". This has been shown to help establish more balanced communities. Where it was tried in Nottingham a threshold of 25 per cent per neighbourhood has been set.

Flint said: "I want to consider further how the planning proposals might help councils change term time-only towns into properly planned towns that blend the student populations into well mixed neighbourhoods that are alive all year round."

Studentification has already been identified as a problem for places such as Liverpool, Loughborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Southampton and Bristol.

The British Property Federation has already warned that moves to restrict HMOs could limit the supply of dwellings for those most in need of affordable homes.

Roger Milne

2 October 2008