Worries have been aired over a street in Newcastle where almost every home has been turned into student accommodation.
Councillors expressed concerns on Friday about the dominance of student housing in parts of Jesmond, after being told that 94% of the properties on Sunbury Avenue are houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). There are only four homes left on the street that are not HMOs and that number is set to drop to three, after Newcastle City Council’s planning committee approved the conversion of another terraced house.
The “overwhelming” level of student homes and resulting “noise and activity” on the street led city planning officials to conclude that it had effectively become unsuitable for families to live on.
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Lib Dem councillor Doreen Huddart told colleagues at Friday’s hearing that she did not want to see areas become “no-family ghettos” and spoke about her experience of a greater mix of residents coming back into Heaton over recent years, having previously feared it was becoming overrun with HMOs and absentee landlords. The Manor Park ward councillor said: “I am shocked to see that we now have streets that are designated as being unsuitable for families or where families should be discouraged.”
Jesmond’s popularity with Newcastle’s student population has been the subject of debate for many years and the city council introduced restrictions known as an Article 4 direction in 2011, meaning homes in Jesmond and some other areas cannot be turned into a HMO without the developer obtaining planning permission from the council first.
Coun Huddart added: “I find the number of houses designated as HMOs quite worrying. While we have had lots of restrictions, like the Article 4 direction, we have no such thing to say how many houses in a street or on an estate can be classed as HMOs. There is no ceiling on that, so you could have something that is 100% and then it gets a reputation.”
Labour councillor Paula Maines, who represents Kenton, agreed that the Sunbury Avenue situation was “just shocking”. 12 public objections were lodged against the plan ahead of Friday’s committee, including from the Jesmond Residents Association, warning that the area "already has an overconcentration of HMOs leading to anti-social behaviour and additional noise".
But North Jesmond councillor Tanya Prestwell, a resident of Sunbury Avenue herself, wrote in a personal capacity to support the conversion. She wrote in her letter that the few remaining family homes on the street were at risk of becoming “unsaleable” if they could not be turned into student housing as well because of the “lack of care” for the surrounding properties and problems including “egged windows, vomit on the pavement, spilled takeaways, and pavements and roads strewn with broken glass”.
She added that refusing the HMO application could have risked “trapping ageing residents” in homes they want to leave and claimed to have been told by fellow North Jesmond councillor Gerry Keating that the proliferation of HMOs led to family homes being devalued by £100,000. Coun Prestwell is a member of the planning committee but did not attend Friday’s meeting, while Coun Keating recused himself.
The committee approved the plans, from Markbourn Limited, by a five to two margin. Coun Ian Tokell said the 94% number was a concern, but added that “we are where we are” and questioned whether putting in another student house would “significantly change” the area.
Ben Ponton, a member of the End ASB in Jesmond group, was left bitterly disappointed by the decision and fears it could set a precedent for similar streets nearby. Mr Ponton urged the council not to give up on returning areas with a high HMO density to a wider mix of residents, including older people and young professionals.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It is not inevitable. They [the council] should be more proactive about this. They should be taking steps to ensure that there are no more HMO conversions and to encourage more diverse use of the housing stock in Jesmond.”
Planning officer Jon Rippon said the Article 4 direction had been “very successful” in curbing the rise of student housing in Jesmond and promoting a drive to bigger student accommodation blocks around the city centre. He added that Sunbury Avenue had the highest HMO rates in the area, though the issue had pre-dated the 2011 restrictions coming into force.
