Dundee’s HMO war of words has intensified ahead of a council meeting, with a claim that: “We’ve reached a point where we’ve forgotten students are people.”
New houses in multiple occupancy licence applications will go before the council on Thursday, with 35 applications for new licences, seven renewals and 18 objections to be reviewed by the licensing committee.
Multiple objections were lodged by individual residents of Seafield Road to HMO licences.
Complaints appearing in all objections include the noise and litter caused by students and make the case that students do not integrate into the community.
The objections have been described as “astoundingly reactionary generalisations made by this minority of west end residents,” by Dundee and Angus College student president Mark Winsland.
A complaint relating to the renewal of an HMO licence at Seafield Road said: “Tenants of HMO properties tend to be transient, care little for the property, their neighbours, the immediate area around them or ongoing improvements in Dundee in general.”
Both Dundee and Abertay University, as well as Dundee and Angus College confirmed a majority of their students are still in the Tayside area six months after graduation, although Robyn Donoghue, president of Abertay University Students’ Association, warned of a “brain drain” in Dundee if young people are demonised.
She said: “People come here to study for four years, and they bring so much to the city, not just economically but also by working and volunteering.”
Iain MacKinnon, president of Dundee University Students’ Association, said: “To brand all students as noisy and irresponsible is preposterous, and a great many night-time disturbances are caused by non-students.”
Councillor Stewart Hunter, convener of Dundee’s licensing committee, said: “We have a robust system, and HMOs are much more closely regulated than normal rented properties; and the committee has recently been much more closely scrutinising these properties and landlords we never rubber stamp anything.”