Claim over student accommodation ‘outrageous’

On Thursday Birmingham City Council’s planning committee approved plans for a 178-bed student accommodation in Selly Oak, despite a string of objections from local residents.

Most of the objections centred around the potential impact additional students could have on the area, with residents fearing an increase in the levels of rubbish and antisocial behaviour.

And several were also worried about the potential rise of HMOs in the area if students currently living in these houses moved into purpose-built student accommodation.

The vote was passed by a margin of eight to four, with several of those supporting the application pointing to the beneficial impact Birmingham’s universities have on the city.

And one of these was Councillor Simon Morrall, who claimed it was "outrageous" to suggest that a rise in HMOs for purposes such as assisted living could be "detrimental" to the local community.

“There’s a demand because of the university,” he said.

“If you are going to build student accommodation then clearly it’s better to have it in an area such as Selly Oak, where there is a university on the doorstep. Had this been in the centre of Bournville Village then I might have objected.

“And the other issue I want to raise, which has been brought up in the report, is it talks about the fact that even though it says that there isn’t a demand for this particular site, the risk is the fact that the students will move out of the HMOs into this site, freeing up the HMOs for other types of dwelling, supported accommodation and that type of thing.

“And somebody said that that would have a detrimental impact on the Selly Oak community. I personally think that’s an absolutely outrageous thing to say, and that in itself has kind of cemented while I will be approving this application today.”