Over Concentration of Student Accommodation

It's a difficult balance for local authorities to meet the needs for the growing popularity of its local Universities and thus student accommodation needs and keeping local residence happy. Students although of low income have a surprisingly high purchasing power when grouped which spurs investment into student accommodation as rents are often calculated on a per room basis resulting in a premium for a student house compared to a family house.

Bath's local council for example actively denies planning permission and HMO licenses needed for student accommodation of 5 beds and over through regulation. The regulations state that an area 100 m around the property should not have a concentration of more than 25% HMO's. One house in King Edward's Road has recently been denied HMO status due to a concentration of 32%. Officers stated: "the proposal would result in an overconcentration of Houses in Multiple Occupation within this area, to the detriment of the mixture of size, type and affordability of accommodation available in the locality."

Local residence often have an issue with students due to noise, shortage of parking and the rotation of yearly residents that decreases the likelihood of having consistently good neighbours. Each local council has it's own strategy and plan for keeping the existing local residents happy and spurring growth through it's expanding University and accommodation for students that creates jobs and investment.

Photo credit to Gabi Witthaus