Council accused of ‘student bashing’

A BID to cut the amount of new houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) that can be built in York is “populist student bashing” and would threaten the city’s longawaited Local Plan, according to a senior councillor.

Coun Nigel Ayre hit out at fellow councillors who had called on York Council’s executive to reconsider its decision not to review its policy around the density of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) – despite all councillors voting to do so in December.

At that meeting councillors said they would look to cut the “acceptable percentage thresholds” of new HMOs in streets and neighbourhoods by half.

Coun Ayre said government inspectors’ patience with York’s Local Plan, which includes the HMO policy and is being examined by experts this week, was now “wafer thin”.

“This is York’s last opportunity for a local, democratically approved, Local Plan. I cannot understand why anyone would risk tearing that up and throwing it away.”

But Coun Michael Pavlovic said the Local Plan was a “fig leaf ”. “I am sorry to say that despite this being a significant issue for many residents this administration appears not to really care about HMO density in this city,” he added.

Coun Mark Warters has long called for changes to the rules. He said: “I’ve watched as Tang Hall has been destroyed as a working class community. Clearly the unrestrained expansion of student numbers at York University is distorting the local housing market.”

The council’s executive said a review could happen after the Local Plan is adopted, but councillors on the customer and corporate services scrutiny management committee argued that would take too long.

Chairman Coun Jonny Crawshaw said the impact of a transient population on a street can be “enormous” and that communities had been “decimated”.