News

New legislation to impact on shared housing

11th February 2010

The Governement have issued a statement that would require Landlords to apply for planning permission for new shared housing where three of more unrelated people live together. It is expected that there will be stong opposition to any move that requires planning permission of this sort, and the backlash may not just come from Landlords with property in the private rented sector.

According to the National Landlords Association (NLA) it is a move that will reduce the supply of shared housing and in turn prohibit the growth of a sector that vital to every major city - one which provides much needed accommodation for students, young professionals and those on low incomes. By making it more difficult and costly for landlords to provide this type of accommodation, these measures will reduce choice for tenants, increase prices, and increase pressure on local authority housing.

The Rugg Review - an independent review of the private-rented sector commissioned by the Governement - already dismissed these changes to the planning system as an 'extreme response' which 'local authorities are ill-equipped to handle.' The fear is that these proposals will create 'no-go' areas for landlords, students, young professionals, low income families, migrant workers and wide range of other groups who rely on shared private-rented sector housing.

David Salusbury, chairman, NLA, critisises these measures, said: "What we have before us is draconian and is quite simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".