Leader
| TALKING POINT | | | EATING OUT |  | | | EATING IN | | | | PAST TIMES | | |
|
|
|
Student housing – a problem not a crisis
THE town versus gown
debate which has occupied
many column
inches on this page in
recent weeks is an argument
which surfaces in nearly all
university towns.
In almost every instance, the
views expressed tend to crystallise
around the issue of
whether or not there are too
many students. In Durham,
that debate is refined further to
whether there are too many
students not living in university
accommodation.
University vice-chancellor Prof
Christopher Higgins has been
criticised for stating the obvious
that the local housing market's
response to the number of
students seeking accommodation
is not, ultimately, its responsibility.
The university
could provide, as has been suggested,
places in halls of residence
for every student, but it
would be pointless to do so.
What is driving the demand for
student accommodation which
is not university or college accommodation
is the student
body - the majority don't want
to live in the colleges, and the
university cannot compel them
to do so.
The fact that a significant slice
of the city's housing stock has
been converted, in some cases
pretty poorly, for multiple student
occupation is certainly regrettable.
Some city streets
have become virtually student
enclaves where longstanding
residents feel out of place.
But to blame the university for
this is not helpful. The finger
could possibly be pointed at
the city council for allowing so
many of these unsympathetic
conversions, but we are fairly
confident a city planning officer
would point out that their
powers to do so are, in fact, limited.
A great deal can be done
by landlords and property developers
without planning permission,
especially if the property
lies outside a conservation
area.
The issue is one on which the
organisations involved in the
Durham Vision project - including
the university - are
working, but obvious shortterm
solutions are not easy to
suggest.
It would be helpful to keep the
matter in perspective. It is one
negative aspect of the university's
presence in the city and
needs to looked at in the wider
context of what the university
brings to the city and its citizens.
The range of business, social,
artistic and educational
opportunities have been mentioned
by others - and are
recorded weekly in the pages of
this newspaper - so they don't
need spelling out.
The accommodation problem
is arguably a small price to pay
for the privilege of having a
world-class institution in our
midst.
1:18pm Friday 13th June 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Ralph, Durham on 10:07pm Fri 20 Jun 08
I agree that the problem is not of the University's making.
The responsibility lies foursquare on the shoulders of national politicians.
Landlords are just behaving according to a market that was shaped by these politicians. thanks to Westminster politicians, students live a subsidised life. They do not pay council tax. I pay band F, £ 2074 per year, the house next door along with 40% of the street, is exempt. Very few of the student occupants manage to join in the council's recycling scheme, at the end of each term the council has the added expense of removing several months' rubbish as the students finally manage to put their black bags out, and throughout the year the streets are degraded by poorly maintained houses, with untidy yards and amenity further reduced by drooping curtains, inappropriate posters etc.
In the meantime our MP castigates the City Council for not [probiding "affordable housing". i am writing this loking across several streets, now almost exclusively in student occupation, that used to be first time buyer land.
Time was there used to be a property tax (Schedule A) and Mortgage Interest relief was set against this. Both were abolished with the result that the private buyer, and in particular the first time buyer is seriously disadvantaged vs. the commercial landlord who can offset mortgage interest against income. instead of trying to persuade developers to include rubbish cheapish property in there plans, the government should level the playing field by not allowing any interst on residential property to be set against income and all residents should pay the full council costs of living where they choose to live.
I agree that the problem is not of the University's making.
The responsibility lies foursquare on the shoulders of national politicians.
Landlords are just behaving according to a market that was shaped by these politicians. thanks to Westminster politicians, students live a subsidised life. They do not pay council tax. I pay band F, £ 2074 per year, the house next door along with 40% of the street, is exempt. Very few of the student occupants manage to join in the council's recycling scheme, at the end of each term the council has the added expense of removing several months' rubbish as the students finally manage to put their black bags out, and throughout the year the streets are degraded by poorly maintained houses, with untidy yards and amenity further reduced by drooping curtains, inappropriate posters etc.
In the meantime our MP castigates the City Council for not [probiding "affordable housing". i am writing this loking across several streets, now almost exclusively in student occupation, that used to be first time buyer land.
Time was there used to be a property tax (Schedule A) and Mortgage Interest relief was set against this. Both were abolished with the result that the private buyer, and in particular the first time buyer is seriously disadvantaged vs. the commercial landlord who can offset mortgage interest against income. instead of trying to persuade developers to include rubbish cheapish property in there plans, the government should level the playing field by not allowing any interst on residential property to be set against income and all residents should pay the full council costs of living where they choose to live.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
