Force students to pay council tax, says Worcester councillor

Councillor Richard Udall says a long-standing exemption introduced in 1992 allowing university students to avoid the household bill should be scrapped.

The Labour politician says families in Worcester are "angry" that they have to pay high council taxes while students can live next door without contributing anything towards local services.

Now he wants Worcester MP Robin Walker to lobby the Government over ditching the law, saying the 1992 ruling is out-of-date and no longer practical.

The cash-grab has been called "outrageous" by students, who say it will stop them studying altogether.

The current law protects around 600 full-time city students living in Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), who get away without paying a combined £766,000 in rates.

Cllr Udall, a city and county councillor, said: "Clearly this is a lot of money - money councils should be using to pay for essential frontline services, services the students enjoy and benefit from.

"Worcester residents are angry that their student neighbours are getting away without paying anything in council tax, it would appear students can play but we have to pay.

"Worcester is rightly proud to be a university city, but the cost to the council is not insignificant.

"We are cutting services which could be saved if students paid a contribution."

He added that the bill need not fall on students alone, saying landlords could also foot some of it.

"Landlords who are often absentee and never visit or maintain their properties are benefitting from this," he said.

"They can rent their property without the need to worry about the cost of council tax, it’s not fair, it’s not right and needs to end."

The city's university has more than 10,000 students after years of expansion, making it the fastest-growing in the country.

The rapid growth led to the city council launching a crackdown on student homes in 2015 known as Article 4, making it harder for landlords to convert family properties to HMOs in certain parts of Worcester.

Robin Walker said the issue of students not paying council tax has come up on the doorsteps.

"If we decided students have to start paying council tax we'd have to provide more grant money for them anyway, so it's a false economy," he said.

"And there have been changes on the tax front so HMO owners are paying more tax than before.

"I'm very keen for the university to build more of its own accommodation to reduce 'studentification' and it's trying to do that - there are other things we can do without forcing them to pay council tax."

HOW DO THEY EXPECT US TO LIVE? STUDENTS HIT OUT

STUDENTS say they will struggle to live and face being priced out of university altogether if they are forced to pay council tax.

Alex Mulligan is a third year journalism student who gets around £7,000 a year to live on, including a maintenance grant and loan.

The 20-year-old rents a HMO in St John's, and says his yearly rent of £5,000 leaves him with just £2,000 to live on.

"I go back home and work at Dudley Zoo to save up money over the summer to get me through," he said.

"I completely disagree with paying council tax, I pay £450 now for my own room but when you add food, living expenses, it adds up.

"If you slapped council tax on, it would make the struggle really difficult - it'd be an absolute disaster.

"It would also severely disadvantage us as an age group. I know some students now who are already on the brink, all it would do is turn more people away from university."

Fellow student Liam Stallard, 22, who is studying the media, pictured below, said: "It's outrageous - you can't expect people to have the money.

"I understand these councils needs more money but this can't be the best way to do it.

"Students would be crippled. I can't even see how it would be politically viable."

Jade Haley, President of the Worcester Students Union, said: "Our students have a positive impact in the community.

"Many of them actively volunteer and contribute to making Worcester a welcoming city.

"Full-time students are exempt from council tax, and we feel this should be the case regardless of the type of accommodation they are living in."

* What do you think? Email te@worcesternews.co.uk or call 01905 742248.