Student landlords in Durham City will be asked to pay council tax to help towards the cost of cleaning up the city after waste and discarded furniture were left in the streets.
The City of Durham Parish Council is asking for a contribution of £52 towards its precept from student landlords to match the amount paid by residents.
It comes after mounds of discarded waste and furniture were left in the streets when students vacated their homes last year.
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Chairman of the City of Durham Parish Council, Coun Alan Doig said: “As a community, we recognise and value the important role which Durham University and its students play in sustaining local employment and services in the city centre.
"However, in Durham city, we are now in the position that a significant number of properties are being used as student accommodation and therefore exempt from paying any council tax towards local services for the city.”
He added: “This parish council has the responsibility of helping to maintain our beautiful parish on behalf of every resident, student and non-student alike.
"This is why we are asking all student landlords to share with us a shared commitment to maintain the attractiveness of our environment by making a contribution to our precept so helping us deliver these vital projects for our community.
"We are requesting a minimum contribution of £52 per property so we can continue to invest in projects like more Neighbourhood Wardens who do so much to improve our community."
At a recent meeting of the parish council, councillors raised concerns about waste and noise from student properties and said they wanted to work proactively with the private-sector to address the issue.
In January, the parish council voted to increase its precept to an average annual household contribution of £52.00 - an increase from £34 last year - in order to deliver additional services in the city to tackle these issues.
More than 4,340 properties in Durham city alone are now registered as student properties and therefore exempt from paying any Council tax at all – including tax payable to the parish council, police and fire service.
In the financial year 2019/20, a total of £7,429,000 was lost in council tax revenue due to Class M and Class N (student) exemptions.
The figure for 2020/21 increased significantly by £1,368,335 to £8,797,335.
The plans were also supported by student landlord and fellow parish councillor councillor Helen Weston.
She said: “As a fellow student property owner myself, I fully endorse the work of the parish council to safeguard the residents of this city and to ensure that the city is kept clean and enjoyable for all.”
The parish council says it will be writing out to all landlords later this month with this request and hope it will help to tackle some of the issues the city is facing and ensure that residents – whether student or non-student – can continue to enjoy everything the city has to offer.
It will also said be publishing the contributions from this request in order to highlight the “good landlords”.
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