In what seems to be a growing trend throughout the country councillors in two university cities have stepped in to enforce a limit on the numbers of shared housing that are being let out primarily to students.

The two universities where the students will be affected are Leicestershire and Worcester and Loughborough and the proposed clampdown will mean that HMO's ( houses in multiple occupation) will account for no more than 10 per cent of the total homes in a 100 metre radius.

The councils aims are to make sure that the number of student HMOs are severely reduced by ensuring that any new proposed shared new homes are not to become available next to any existing ones.

Besides this measure Charnwood Council, Loughborough is also planning to introduce stringent enforceable rules that will mean that students living in such accommodation agree to not having cars to make sure that parking problems do not arise with any new influx. 

At present Loughborough has over 325 licensed HMOs  

Councillor Ron Jukes, chair of the Charnwood review panel said:  “Licensing gives the council the power to properly manage shared homes

 “We will consider a number of options, including licensing all HMO landlords before making any recommendations.”

Previously Oxford City Council failed to enforce this measure when  the DVLA refused to release confidential information on owners parking their cars in streets around student halls. The reason given why the DVLA blocked this was because the request breached data protection laws.

Worcester's new rules will take effect from July 2015, whilst Charnwood's decision will be made later this year.

The leader of Worcester City Council, Councillor Adrian Gregson said: “This type of housing is some of the most popular in Worcester and we know it’s vital for our local economy, often helping young people who are just starting their careers to affordably live in our great city.

“But a high concentration of HMOs in a single part of Worcester can change the character of that area, so our aim here is to ensure that HMOs are spread more evenly across the city.”

Within Worcester there are 750 HMOs run by private landlords. The university has 10,000 students but only 1,200 beds in the halls of residence.