Councillor calls for rethink on policies concerning HMOs

At a meeting of Warwick District Council’s planning committee last Wednesday, permission was granted to change the use of the Willoughby pub in Augusta Place to a 16-bedroom house which could be used for students.

And at the same meeting the committee granted permission for the conversion of a former 14-bedroom nursing home in Clarendon Avenue into student accommodation.

Cllr Matt Western, (Lab, Leamington Willes) who was recently elected to Warwickshire County Council has said that during his election campaign he was approached by many people who had asked for urgent action against the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) being developed.

Mr Western said: “Over recent years the prevailing attitude has been to let the market decide and allow this type of development even though it is clearly having profound effects on our communities.

“ The surge in these developments has been fuelled by a student housing boom which many feel is distorting local communities.

“Terraced housing and starter homes are increasingly being bought with the student market in mind - larger, Victorian properties, which in the past would have been converted into four or five two-bedroom apartments are now also the target of greedy landlords seeking 20 to 30 one-bedroom units guaranteeing higher rental yields.

“This comes at a real and significant cost to the town and its people - housing which previously would have been the preserve of young couples is now being priced out of their reach.

“Sadly the whole of the property market is being distorted as landlords use low interest rates to buy yet more property to exploit the student market, a trend which is being made worse by the Government’s Help to Buy’scheme being misappropriated by the very same landlords.

“Those in neighbouring homes are left with the feeling that their street is changing before their very eyes. “

District councillor Jerry Weber (Lab,Leamington Clarendon) who is a member of the planning committee, had previously raised concerns about HMOs ‘creeping’ into the north of the town.

Mr Western added: “Students currently and rightly do not pay council tax and central government is supposed to make up the shortfall.

“In reality, the amount paid to local councils is the subject of a particularly opaque calculation that does not reflect the reality.

“We need a completely transparent council tax levied on landlords based on the size of the building and the number of occupants.”

“Until this last point is clarified and a fair tax structure is implemented, I would advocate an immediate moratorium on HMOs in Warwick district.”