Lib Dem Councillors in Bath have voted against a motion aimed at exploring council tax on student housing, though the proposal did gain enough votes to be looked at in further detail.
The motion, put to Councillors at the meeting by Cllr June Player, Independent, stated: “Whether Council Tax, Business Rates or both should be applied is open to debate. But, somewhere, a contribution to the services that are received should be made by students and/or property owners.”
“Research indicates that within Bath 2,833 dwellings are occupied as student HMOs, thus housing around 11,300 students, many of which are suitable for occupation as family dwellings.
“This figure excludes purpose built accommodation & on-campus provision which contain hundreds of units of accommodation within the City.”
Councillor David Martin (Liberal Democrat, Bathwick) commented: “We did not feel able to support this motion; the intention driving it was not supportive of the student community in Bath and North East Somerset.
“We are very proud of Bath and North East Somerset’s Universities and Colleges and we welcome students as part of our community – particularly the contribution they make to the vibrancy and economy of our area.
“The Liberal Democrat administration has been working to support students to feel at home here and encourage graduates to stay on.
“We could support the suggestion that the government should be asked to consider the needs of Councils with large student populations when allocating grant funding.
“However, any suggestion that council tax should be charged on HMOs is not welcome as, clearly, the costs would fall on the tenants.”
Councillor Sharon Ball (Liberal Democrat, Westmoreland) added: “We have a very good relationship with our local Universities and Colleges and we work closely together on ‘town and gown’ issues.
“For example, the Liberal Democrat administration has adopted licensing rules to improve the quality of housing available for rent and has adopted planning rules to ensure that rental houses are spread more evenly through the city.
“While there is unfairness in the situation where permanent residents essentially subsidise those services used by students, June Player’s proposals would have unfairly redistributed those costs, and take no account of the money coming to the authority because of the Universities and Colleges.
“We will continue to support all our residents, not set one group against another.”
2 Comments
NOW Bath
Friday 14th November, 2014 at 18:02This article has now been reviewed and amended as necessary.
Whoops
Friday 14th November, 2014 at 10:43Your headline is a serious misrepresentation of the facts. The motion put to Council last night by Cllr June Player was PASSED.
For clarity here are the facts (copied from the Chronic, as is your article above)
So there can be no further misunderstanding, here is the final amended motion as intended to be presented by Cllr June Player to Full Council and as agreed with the representatives from the LibDems on Tuesday night.
Sadly they withdrew their support this afternoon.
Please take note, there is NO reference to Students paying Council Tax. It concentrated only upon Landlords and Developers paying Business Rates.
You must ask the LibDem Councillors why they changed their minds and decided not to support Cllr Player, and forced her to accept a watered down amendment from the Tories.
This Council: · “Notes that modern, purpose-built student accommodation is becoming a popular alternative to traditional shared housing options in Bath. Purpose-built student accommodation is exempt from business rates despite being run as a lucrative commercial enterprise by operators.”
The Council resolves to: · “Write to our two MPs regarding this matter, with a request that the Government consider whether purpose-built student accommodation and converted family homes to Houses of multiple occupation should be classified as commercial property and subject to business rates.”
Perhaps the pretentious rhetoric coming forth from the quoted LibDems above may have something to do with their fright of June Player in Westmoreland and the famous Clegg & Foster “pledge” given the Bath Students!