Scottish council hikes HMO licensing charges ten-fold for student landlord

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In a worrying development Fife Council has moved its charges from a flat-based fee structure to take into account the number of occupants, increasing its licensing charges from £54,000 to £512,000 for St Andrews University.

Landlords who fear some councils are seeking
to make money from HMO licencing fees should take note from Fife council, which
has hiked its charges for licensing properties to one landlord nearly ten-fold.

Fife Council has recently moved from a
flat-based fee structure for licenses to take into account the number of
occupants in an HMO.

Its new policy includes increasing the fees
charges to St Andrews University from £54,000 every three years to £512,000.

The Student Union says 85% of this fee increase stems from the council’s decision to treat each individual flat, rather than each block, in university student halls’ David Russell Apartments (pictured) as a separate HMO.

Students fear it could lead to them being
priced out of university accommodation and moving into private housing.

The university currently
holds 332 HMO licences, with the council charging a fee for each individual
licence, which should cover administration, visits for inspections and any
other costs.

Last year, it rejected proposals to increase the number
of HMO licenses in St Andrews, in a bid to encourage the university to build
more affordable student accommodation.

Vania Kennedy, housing service manager, told Fife Today: “Fife Council’s fees are in line with those charged by other councils with a high number of HMOs.

“The costs of HMO licensing
represent a small percentage of the income that HMO owners will receive through
rents and there should be no need to pass on the increase in HMO fees to
occupants through rent increases. This is entirely at the discretion of
individual HMO owners.”

No one at Fife Council was available for
comment.

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