The Nottingham Action Group on HMOs (NAG) organized an open meeting in March of this year with Professor Karen Cox and Stephen Dudderidge (Nottingham University) and Professor Anne Priest and Michael Lees (Nottingham Trent University).
Following on from that meeting, it was suggested that it would be useful if the NAG were to compile a ‘wish list’ of actions the universities should undertake as part of a long-term commitment to playing their role in improving those of our neighbourhoods where HMOs, their owners and their student tenants have a significant impact.
In putting together the list, advice was sought from a cross-section of NAG members, and took into account the topics raised at the March 2010 open meeting and at the large number of other NAG meetings that have taken place both before and since the Group was formally constituted in 2004.
The result is not so much a list of demands as list of those actions NAG members believe can be reasonably requested of the universities. Some are measures that can be implemented relatively fast to provide ‘quick’ wins for all parties: universities, councils, students and, of course, established residents. Others will need long-term commitment in terms of time and effort in order to achieve results. However, the NAG strongly believes that, taken together, these actions will produce lasting benefits for everyone.
