The government has announced that, from October 1, planning permission will no longer be required to let a property to unrelated people (required since April this year). However, local authorities will be able to introduce this locally through article four directions with either 12 months’ notice or compensation payable to those affected.
The requirement for planning permission allowed for widespread discrimination against social groups such as students and migrant workers. Capping the number of students in any one area – the main aim of many local authorities using these rules – is not going to tackle any issues that are already there.
Many of the ‘housing’ problems associated with HMOs are in fact policing issues. There is a general feeling that when dealing with antisocial behaviour associated with deprivation or social housing that policing is appropriate. However, when it comes to students there is a general stereotype that students are antisocial and that is part of being a student, so shouldn’t be controlled by policing. Many noise or environmental problems are adequately covered by existing environmental health regulations, providing local authorities choose to prioritise this problem.
Researching for this piece I was disappointed to see Labour councils, CLPs and candidates speaking forcefully in favour of giving local councils the power to control where certain groups live through planning law. Planning law is designed to manage properties, not the type of person who can live in a property. I joined the party because I believe Labour will fight for equality and fairness. It is not fair or equal to tell a demographic of people that they are not welcome to live in a certain area.
We need to move away from the idea that we have to be tougher than the Tories on controlling antisocial behaviour; we need to be fairer and more progressive. A minority of students and those who live in HMOs are responsible for antisocial behaviour – capping their numbers in certain localities is both using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and caving into nimby attitudes.
If Labour wants to win back the student vote, and continue to argue for high numbers of young people to enter higher education, they need to consider how they can support students, not support the demonising of them by local authorities.
Canterbury city council, a Conservative-controlled council, is the first council to be using these powers to cap HMOs. Since having the power to turn down planning for HMO applications in April only one application has been approved, all refused on anti-student rhetoric. The University of Kent Students’ Union launched a campaign against this discrimination in July – you can sign up to support the campaign at www.kentunion.co.uk/righttorent.