Student Lets

We have been in this house for over 30 years, and before that it was in my wife's family for many years as well. We are both local born and bred, but, when we moved in, it was a family road. Now we are one of a few locals left, and even my wife is starting to think that we should move, despite all the improvements we have made over the years, and the family connection.

The fact that student accommodation is exempt from Council Tax is worrying.

How much does the Council lose through this clause? And more so - how much does it cost the rest of us extra to cover all this?

Car parking is now a game, with three or four cars per student let. The windows covered in sheets and blankets, not curtains, and bottles and cans in the garden. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Concerned Falmouth (Name and address supplied).

I feel that the vast amount of housing now let to students is destroying both Penryn where I live and Falmouth.

Also I was appalled to read these properties are exempt from Council Tax - with all the cuts in public spending that are having to be made surely this is one rule that should be reversed and all rented properties pay council tax no matter who accomodates them. Sandra Hockley, Falmouth.

The general public, in areas where student houses are “popping up”, can actually complain about it.

People can now say no to another house going for students.

A new law, which has come in and which most HMOs fall under, means student homes will have to have a licence and be brought up to a decent standard to live in.

Anyone who wants to buy to rent will have to seek planning permission and if the neighbour does not want them there, they can complain to the local planning authority.

This cost of having a university and all the landlords is to keep the house prices sky high. Mr and Mrs McKnight, Marlborough Road, Falmouth.

I COMMEND and fully support Falmouth town council with its decision to refuse planning applications to change family dwellings into multi-occupancy student accommodation. Well done, keep up the good work.

From what has been written in the report it would appear that Virginia Sykes is of the opinion that students should be properly managed in order to keep the property respectable.

I assume she means internally and I agree with her on that point, but if she is of the opinion that her application was refused because they do not show any consideration for the property then she has missed the point. The applications have been refused because Falmouth is being absorbed with student accommodation to an unrealistic level resulting in the problems that the Packet has identified.

It is not the students’ fault that these problems exist, it is the landlords who should be strictly managed and controlled into keeping the external appearance of their properties to an acceptable level. D Watkinson, (address supplied).

I WAS very disappointed to read the article on the front page concerning student houses. I run a property management agency, but I wonder if the people who are lobbying against the student accommodation realise how much money that the student population puts into the economy of Falmouth and Penryn.

The university also creates jobs in the community. Without the students, people would not have jobs. I would estimate that each student puts an average of £150 into the economy each week.

The landlords also provide work for a small army of contractors, ie plumbers, electricians and builders, whilst maintaining their properties.

I really don’t believe that the majority of people in Falmouth are against students as the number of complaints that we get are minimal compared to the amount of student properties that our agency manages. Barbara Townsend (by email).

Students are highly beneficial to the local economy and unjustly associated with anti-social behaviour.

Whether it is using local services, such as our post offices or volunteering through local groups and organisations, students contribute massively to our communities.

If our councils oppose houses of multiple occupation in certain areas it will force students and others who live in such accommodation, namely young professionals, migrant workers and immigrants, to move out to other areas.

This will lead to unscrupulous landlords offering flats and houses that might not be safe or fit to live in.

It is not the students and landlords who are preventing local people getting a home. It is the current economic climate.

If landlords comply with safety legislation and all the other rules, they should be applauded rather than criticised. It is unscrupulous, uncaring landlords who need to be rooted out. Name and address supplied.

n I am a property manager for a number of rented properties one of which is a five room student house. Last year at this time I had three (groups of five) contacts regarding this property, so far this year I have had nearly 40. So what has changed? I am no expert but I think three things may have brought this about. The influx of 1,000+ students from Dartington; the proposed increase in Capital Gains tax is spooking landlords into selling asap; the change in requiring planning permission to convert houses into lets. My concern is that the present fragile relationship between locals and students could well reach a tipping point as the quest for rooms nears September.
Bob Aggus, Tregarth, Budock Water.