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InQuire The University of Kent’s student newspaper
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4 March 2016
Issue 11.12
Meetings Mondays at 6.15pm, Student Media Centre
City Sound Project line-up
Traditional cream tea recipe
Two for one voucher for The Gulbenkian
Entertainment Page 17
Features Page 10
Culture Page 19
New ban on student housing Ruby Lyle Newspaper Editor
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VOTING is now open for the Kent Union Leadership Elections 2016. Voting will close midday 10 March and the results will be announced in The Venue that evening from 9pm.
anterbury City Council (CCC) has pushed through legislation, known as Article 4, which will restrict the number of student houses in an area. The direction came into effect on 25 February 2016. The legislation will limit the number of Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) to 10 per cent on any given street. A large number of HMOs in Canterbury are student houses. When asked about why the Council voted for the Article Four direction, they argued: “While HMOs do make a significant contribution to the vibrancy of the city, attracting young professionals, students, migrant workers, and a transient workforce to the area, there are also negative impacts in areas where they
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are highly concentrated. This is in large part due to the increasing number of private student lettings in the city and immediate vicinity. “Such concentrations put pressure on local amenities, traffic congestion, existing families and external appearance of the areas. It is felt that reducing these pockets of concentrated HMOs through greater assessment is required.” The Article Four direction will not only apply to Canterbury, but also to the surrounding wards. Existing HMOs will not be effected, unless the property owner should wish to make a conversion, in which case they must seek permission from the City Council. Landlords who wish to change a residential house to an HMO must apply to CCC for planning permission. Continued on page 3