Some home truths

There has recently been a lot of debate amongst students regarding housing. Quite apart from serving on the City Council’s Cabinet and representing the ward containing both University campuses, speaking as someone who’s lived in rented accommodation for over 10 years, this discussion can only be a good thing. Saying that, I wanted to clarify some of the issues raised.

The issue first caught my eye when Nouse ran an article on the York Student Socialist Society’s campaign, and The Yorker has since followed suit. As neither the Socialist Society nor the two news outlets contacted either the Council or any Councillors to allow them to respond to their claims, I decided to go along to their public meeting in Week 5. I think it is fair to say I was not the most popular person in the room, but since when were politicians bothered about being popular?

The boldest allegation is that as a result of landlords requiring planning permission for new student house conversions, we are on the verge of hundreds of student evictions. Fortunately, this is not true. No students to date have been evicted due to the new rules. It is also incredibly unlikely that a new enforcement notice served when a landlord has not obtained proper permission (accidentally or otherwise) would result in an eviction. If a landlord took the disgraceful decision to re-let a property after it was served with a notice, there could potentially be a problem, so the Council has been working with landlords, YUSU and the University to try and ensure this doesn’t happen. If there is a threat to student welfare, it comes from a small number of landlords who are trying to dodge the rules – not from the Council throwing students out on to the street.

There are also calls for a compulsory landlord accreditation scheme. I personally agree that there are limits to the current voluntary schemes – usually it’s the responsible landlords who sign up.
Nonetheless, the law dictates that the Council has to have an evidence base that shows the voluntary system is not working before this can happen. We are working closely with the Student Union to build up this evidence and get an accurate picture of what’s needed.

Concerns were also raised about the affordability of accommodation for students and we are in complete agreement on this. The housing charity Shelter found that York was one of the most expensive places outside the South East for rented housing – not just for students, but the whole of the private rented sector. The main underlying cause of high prices in York is lack of supply, which is why this administration – despite opposition from every other political party – has committed to increasing the number of new houses through our Get York Building programme. We have already announced a £1 million investment in new and existing council houses, brought new developments forward, and overseen the building of the first new council houses in York for 20 years.

The other major way of increasing the supply of affordable student accommodation in York is the future of on-campus accommodation. Both the Council and I have lobbied the University to provide more on-campus housing with proper communal facilities that provide value for money. Recent problems in Langwith highlight how far the University needs to come on this and, as ward Councillor, I have been in close contact with YUSU – particularly President Kallum Taylor and Welfare Officer Bob Hughes – to offer support in any way I can.

The Socialist Society Chair has been “decrying the ideological motives of the Labour Council” and another representative claims that “nobody else is talking about this, we are!” (I’m not sure what he means by this.) They are not the only ones talking about this. Instead of accusing the Council of various terrible things, I have suggested to the Socialist Society that if they want to achieve their aims, they might actually want to talk to us. We will continue to tackle this very important issue, and are prepared to do so with anyone and everyone who wants to work with us.