Issue - items at meetings - Badger Hill Action Group Petition: Over develoment of family homes to student lets

The purpose of this report is to inform Members of a petition received from residents of Badger Hill concerning an increasing number of family homes on the Badger Hill Estate being converted to student lets, primarily for the University of York students.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member for City Strategy be advised to:

(i) Ensure that policies H7 and H8 are enforced through the decision making process;

(ii) Request that as part of the Local Development Framework, officers explore a policy approach to ensure student housing is accommodated in an appropriate way in the City;

(iii) Ask Officers to advise the main petitioner of the outcome of the recommendation;

(iv) Request that the issue be referred to the Local Development Framework Working Group for consideration.

Decision of the Executive Member for City Strategy

RESOLVED: That the Advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON: (i) To ensure that development accords with approved Local Plan policies;

(ii) To help strengthen the policy approach to student lets, protecting family dwellings;

(iii) To keep the petitioner informed of progress of the issues;

(iv) To further address issues raised in the petition.

Members considered a report which informed them of a petition received from residents of Badger Hill concerning an increasing number of family homes on the Badger Hill Estate being converted to student lets, primarily for the University of York students.

Officers updated that objections had been received from 54% of householders in the Badger Hill area. In planning terms, up to and including six persons can share a single household without having to apply for planning permission to change the use of the dwelling. Therefore there is no distinction between a dwelling occupied in a conventional way and that of a dwelling occupied by up to six students living together as a single household. Officers referred to policies H7 and H8, and stated that any change of policy would have to be done through the Local Development Framework process, rather than the Local Plan.

Members discussed if any information from other Local Authorities was available, and officers updated that they would be keen to learn from any work done by other Local Authorities. As a short term measure it was important to ensure that H7 & H8 was enforced through the decision making process.

Cllr Merrett stated that the petition highlighted issues which the Labour Group had tried to address in putting forward a policy in the Local Plan regarding the University accommodating all student generated demand.

Cllr Merrett proposed a motion that an additional recommendation be added, to set up a working group to look at a strategy to address this issue, involving the University, other higher education institutions and residents.

This motion was seconded by Cllr Simpson-Laing. The motion was put to the vote and the motion was lost.

Members requested that the issue be referred to the LDF Working Group for consideration. Cllr Simpson-Laing requested that her request for this to be done within the next three months be minuted.