Sharon Ball

I welcome the news that the Government is to finally to give Councils the tools to tackle the issue of high concentrations of student houses or ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation” (HMOs) in specific areas of their authority areas.

My colleagues and I have been campaigning for this for a long time and I would give particular thanks to Councillor Shaun McGall who has spearheaded this campaign.

On hearing the news He commented:
 
“I’m really pleased that the Government has finally responded to the combined pressure from local residents, Councillors and MPs from across the Country who have been lobbying for action to tackle ‘studentification’. Oldfield Park, like many parts of other University towns and cities, has been affected by the growth of large clusters of HMOs.
 
“When I first set up the SLC within the Council to work with the universities and the student unions to improve town and gown relations I always knew that changes to planning laws would be the ultimate aim.”

Bath MP Don Foster added:

“I would like to thank those local residents and residents’ associations from Bath who have worked with us and have responded to the Government’s review on privately rented housing. Without their persistent help over the years we wouldn’t have been able to persuade the government to propose changing planning laws.

“We look forward to seeing the green paper in due course.”