Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) licenses were introduced in 2000 for rented properties in Scotland, following a tragic fire in a flat in Glasgow in which two students were killed.

The introduction of these licenses, which specify a set of minimum safety standards that rented accommodation must meet, were widely applauded by NUS Scotland and also by the housing charity, Shelter. Landlords are now required to apply to the local council for an HMO license, proving that the property meets the required standards.

Unfortunately, the introduction of HMOs has meant that it is possible to find out exactly how many rented properties exist within a particular street, area or city. Some local residents groups have made repeated attempts to curb the number of rented properties permitted in an area, and limiting the number of HMO licenses has been seen as the perfect mechanism to perform this sort of social engineering.

Students’ associations have been successfully campaigning against HMO quotas over many years. However, an amendment to the Planning Bill in the Scottish Parliament could have seen local authorities gain new powers to introduce HMO quotas in any area. The amendments, tabled by Glasgow MSP Pauline McNeill and Fife MSP Andrew Arbuckle, had the potential to result in fewer landlords choosing to operate HMOs, causing a reduction in the number of properties to rent. It may have also added to the cost of operating an HMO licensed property, which would likely be passed on to tenants.

Furthermore, allowing local authorities to set quotas by street and, therefore, reject HMOs up for renewal could displace student communities in university cities like Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Consequently, there would have been an increased marketisation of properties close to campuses, potentially resulting in only rich students being able to afford to rent these properties. Poorer students would have been dispersed outwards, resulting in increased transport costs and perhaps even exclusion from critical aspects of the student experience.

For these reasons, and also the principled aspect of using legislation designed to improve the safety of tenants in their accommodation for the purposes of social engineering, students across Scotland campaigned strongly against these amendments. Over 2,000 letters were sent to MSPs outlining students’ concerns and, as a direct result, the MSPs decided to withdraw their amendments, knowing they would be defeated if any vote took place.

This is a real victory for Scotland’s students, but our campaigning against HMO quotas must not stop here. Residents’ associations have been campaigning for a long time for the introduction of HMO quotas – we may have defeated them this time, but we must be ready to take on the fight if and when they try again.

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