Campaigners defend moves to halt further HMOs in St Andrews.

People on salaries of £40,000-plus ‘can’t afford town prices’

St Andrews campaigners for a cap on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) have hit back at a claim the move would penalise students.

North East Fife Area Committee last week voted for measures which would prevent the proportion of HMOs in the town centre from rising in a move described as “shameful” by University of St Andrews Students’ Association president Lewis Wood.

David Middleton, who chairs the Confederation of St Andrews Residents Associations (CSARA), said: “They are saying that students’ needs are not being taken into account.

“What we would say is that all the evidence suggests that students are really well catered for.”

North-east Fife councillors voted in favour of a motion from Labour’s Brian Thomson calling for the percentage of HMOs in the town to rise no further than their current levels of 17% in the centre, 5% in the east of St Andrews and 3% in the west. It was broadly in line with what CSARA had campaigned for.

The group argued that it was not “anti-student” but was calling for more houses to be made available for families, with around 370 on the waiting list for social housing.

In January, figures obtained from St Andrews University under Freedom of Information legislation revealed that last year there were 46 vacancies in student halls, representing 2% of the total number of rooms available.

Mr Thomson said: “I was very disappointed to read Mr Wood’s ill-informed comments, which completely misrepresented the discussion at the meeting, and demonstrate a remarkable lack of understanding about the housing situation in St Andrews.

“The simple facts are that St Andrews has the highest percentage of HMO properties in Scotland, has hugely inflated property prices, the number of students in the town over the last 30 years has grown almost three-fold, with the permanent population decreasing over the same period. And we’re now in a position where even people on salaries of £40,000-plus, which includes many university staff, can’t afford to buy or rent in the town – never mind people on median or low incomes.

“What’s proposed is not some ‘Nimby’ knee-jerk reaction.”

The number of students in the town over the last 30 years has grown almost three-fold