A St Andrews councillor says the town’s housing market is “even worse” than she feared as a result of a freeze on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) – telling council leaders: “I told you so.”
Since 2019, Fife Council has not approved licences for new HMOs in the town.
The aim was to relieve pressure on the overcrowded housing market with the hope of freeing up flats for those not studying at the university.
The policy faced opposition from some, including Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Ann Liston, who feared the move would only compound the issue.
In 2019, Ms Liston said: “While the ban may please the few town residents who would rather not have student neighbours, rather than free up houses for general occupancy, the student population is likely to be spread more thinly two by two, over more houses.”
HMO rules come into force when three or more unrelated individuals share a home.
Students are now campaigning to end the freeze, after saying the policy had contributed to a lack of private accommodation in the town.
Scores of students said they struggled to find accommodation at the beginning of term last year due to what they called a “housing crisis”.
Councillor says ‘I told you so’
Councillors are set to discuss the policy in April following a consultation, which has just ended.
Ms Liston told The Courier: “I’m afraid ‘I told you so’ is the comment that comes to mind.
“In fact, the situation is even worse than I feared, with many properties being divided into two-bedroom flats to avoid the HMO strictures.
“We have all heard of pairs of students under-occupying properties where the other bedrooms are locked, resulting in huge rent increases for each tenant and driving the poorest students out of St Andrews and into accommodation 13 miles away in Dundee.
“The stated aim of this policy was to free up potential student-occupied flats for low and middle-income households but this does not appear to have happened.
“In addition, it would appear that many landlords are choosing to go down the short-term lets road instead, which has the potential to cause far more problems than students.
Current policy ‘failing’
“With most students wanting to be in the town centre, which includes many properties only suitable for fit young people oblivious to noise and unencumbered by children or cars, there is an opportunity to make best use of our limited housing stock by encouraging students to live there, leaving the further-out residential areas for families.
“The current policy fails to do this.”
John Mills, Fife Council’s head of housing, said: “We’re carrying out a review of the 2019 HMO overprovision policy with various organisations in Fife.
“A report will be discussed by councillors at the cabinet meeting in April.”
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