Student blocks don’t ease housing crisis

IN reply to R Goodfellow’s letter 29/10/19 regarding housing on green belt land.

The trouble is that building student tower blocks doesn’t seem to help in releasing houses for the people who urgently need accommodation, as it is just an excuse to enrol more students.

A classic example was published in the Telegraph a few weeks ago about knocking four terraced houses down in Hillfields to build more student blocks which would have been perfect starter houses for young couples.

K J Clarke, Wyken

HMOs should be restricted in city

CLLR Duggins states in his letter dated 18th October of a deliberate plan five years ago to build purpose built accommodation that is now seeing a drop in HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation) and those houses are now being returned to residential lettings or being sold.

I can assure him this is certainly not the case in the Cannon Park area of Coventry.

Landlords are still buying family homes and turning them into HMOs aided and abetted by our totally inadequate planning laws and policies.

Unlike neighbouring authorities such as Warwick DC, Coventry refuse to bring in planning policies which would restrict the number of HMOs to an agreed percentage and prevent the blight that large parts of Cannon Park and surrounding areas are now suffering from.

Indeed in some of the roads in Cannon Park out of 30 or 40 properties only three or four are ‘family homes’ while the rest have been turned into HMOs usually rented to students at nearby Warwick University.

Despite constant requests by both Wainbody Ward Councillors and residents this Labour council steadfastly refuses to do anything to improve the lives of Wainbody residents by restricting HMOs.

Cllr. John Blundell Wainbody Ward