Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Landlords may have to pay £5.5m student tax bill
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Student landlords in Canterbury could be forced to pay business rates to cover £5.5 million lost through council tax discounts enjoyed by their tenants.
The cash-strapped city council was last night (Wednesday) set to decide whether to lobby the government to give local authorities power to recoup the lost money from landlords.
National policy currently dictates that students in Canterbury are exempt from paying council tax, leaving both the county and city councils, the police and fire service out of pocket to the tune of £5,543,000 a year.
Four in five of the city’s privately rented homes – about 3,800 – are occupied by students, but landlords only have to pay council tax when the properties are empty.
Local authorities do receive extra government funding to help cover the shortfall, but the grants have faced heavy cuts and are set to dwindle further.
A similar issue facing Liverpool – which also has a heavy student population – prompted its councillors to support putting pressure on Whitehall to change the rules.
Canterbury City Council’s community committee was due to discuss adopting an identical approach at the Guildhall last night.
Ahead of the meeting, council leader Simon Cook said: “It is a debate which has to be had.
“The problem is not of the students’ making and they, of course, contribute significantly to the economy of the city.
“But we are being put in a pre-
What do you think? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup. co.uk or write to Gazette House, 5-8 Boorman Way, Wraik Hill, Whitstable, CT5 3SE. dicament as the government withdraws the allowance we receive for not getting council tax from these properties.
“We have to start looking at a way forward because the student population receives a lot of services from the council.
“It’s about being fair to students, who have their own pressures, but also to residents.”
Professor Richard Norman, who is a member of the St Michael’s Residents’ Association – an area of high student accommodation – welcomes the idea of landlords being charged business rates.
He said: “I know some of the likely responses – that this would just be passed on to student tenants – but the inescapable fact is that Canterbury suffers greatly from loss of council tax because of the very large student population, all of whom are users of local facilities and services.”
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has serious concerns over the plans, fearing any tax on landlords could force students’ rents up and reduce the quality of the accommodation on offer.
After Liverpool council supported the proposal, the RLA’S chief executive, Andrew Goodacre, said: “This sets a very dangerous precedent. Where one council goes others are sure to follow.
“Landlords will look to recoup this extra tax by increasing their rents and taxing them in this way will reduce the amount of money they have to spend on repairs and home improvements for their tenants.”