LANDLORDS have hit out at a controversial council bid to clamp down on student homes, insisting it will have “devastating” consequences.

A group of Worcester-based property owners have sent the city council a series of objections in a bid to get the policy overturned.

As your Worcester News first revealed in January, planning bosses want to introduce a new rule aimed at controlling the proliferation of new student homes.

Under the move, known as an article 4 direction, landlords would have to apply for a ‘change of use’ to the city’s planning department before offering a property to students. At the moment, landlords who run students homes must register it as a house of multiple occupancy (HMO), but do not need to make a planning application.

An e-mail sent to politicians entitled Concerned Landlords of Worcester claims it could reduce the choice of beds available, pushing up rents.

It also says the policy will reduce house prices, is “anti-student” and claims the council will have “full control over social engineering”.

The e-mail also says the landlords have started a campaign group called Say No to Article 4.

It adds: “We are in the midst of the biggest peacetime recession ever and the recovery is being held back by the construction sector.

“Article 4 will have a very negative effect on investment in housing and construction in Worcester – it shackles the free market.

“It denies people the right to live where they wish to. It will affect those who can least afford housing.”

The policy will also apply to landlords who rent their property out to non-students, as long as two different tenants are based there.The city council wants to introduce it from the summer of 2014.

There are about 750 independently-owned student houses in Worcester.

In recent years, tensions have simmered between students and families, particularly in parts of St John’s.

Paul O’Connor, head of planning at the Guildhall, said: “It’s not scaremongering, it’s not social engineering, it is seeking to prevent unfettered development that causes recognised problems in localities. Article 4 Direction does not mean that there will be no new HMOs. It just means planning permission will be required.”