HC Deb 14 October 1975 vol 897 cc1114-5
7. Mr. Hooley

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set up a working party, in collaboration with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors, to make a special study of student accommodation other than purpose-built halls of residence.

Mr. Mulley

I have no plans to do so at present.

Mr. Hooley

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the prospect for building large halls of residence is not very bright, and that considerable strains are likely to be placed on housing accommodation in the big industrial university cities? Is there not a case for an examination of the general problem of student accommodation, particularly in respect of the point that has been raised that householders who offer this accommodation could become liable to capital transfer tax?

Mr. Mulley

I share my hon. Friend's concern about the problem, but I do not know that the proposal contained in his Question, for the setting up of a working party, would necessarily get us much further. The purpose-built halls of residence are not universally popular with students, and very few are demanded now. Equally, neither students nor those concerned with homelessness are anxious that students shoud be given preferential arrangements under the Rent Act, so it is a case of trying to deal with the problem in each locality. As we both have the privilege of serving the same city, my hon. Friend knows that in Sheffield the university has combined with the polytechnic, the City Council and other interested bodies to form a housing society, with a view to seeing how best to resolve these problems, and that pattern could well be followed elsewhere.

Mr. Lane

Is the Secretary of State aware that in constituencies like Cambridge potential student landlords and landladies are being frightened off both by capital transfer tax and the Rent Act 1974? [Interruption.] This is a serious matter. Labour Members must realise that. Will the Minister support the efforts to improve the situation which some of us have been making with the Treasury and the Department of the Environment, because the Government are not taking this problem seriously enough?

Mr. Mulley

I should be very happy to discuss the matter further with the hon. Gentleman. We need to pool all possible ideas, but the difficulty, basically, stems from the chronic shortage of housing accommodation in many places.