Lib Dem call for student housing action

12.00.00pm GMT Sat 22nd Nov 2008

Lib Dem councillors, Ed Bridges and Simon Pickard, are calling for fresh thinking on student housing in Cardiff.

Councillors in Cardiff have agreed to a Liberal Democrat proposal to address the issue of student housing in the city.

Two members of the ruling Liberal Democrat group brought forward a motion to last Thursday's Council meeting, calling for the introduction of a specific policy on student housing, to address the high concentration of student halls and shared houses in some areas. It also called for stricter controls on landlords of unfit properties, through extra licensing powers.

Cathays councillor, Simon Pickard, said: "It's not acceptable that almost 10% of student houses are regarded by the Council as 'unfit for human habitation'. The Council needs to prosecute negligent landlords and introduce powers to target the very worst landlords responsible for the most neglected houses in the most run-down parts of the city."

Cllr. Ed Bridges, Lib Dem councillor for Gabalfa ward, proposed the motion. He said: "As a postgraduate student myself, I have no axe to grind with the city's student population. But we must accept that the increasingly high concentrations of students in areas like Cathays, Roath and Gabalfa is unsustainable. What I want to see is the Council work with the Universities and Students' Unions to come up with a wide-ranging policy to plan for the future so that the spread of halls and student houses can be done in a more managed way."