Growing numbers of students in Bristol means that public services are missing out from an extra £2.6 million in council tax this year. Students are exempt from paying council tax despite benefiting from the services which Bristol City Council provides, like bin collections and parks.
University cities such as Bristol should be given extra cash from the government to cope with their large numbers of students, and the missing millions in council tax, according to councillors. Student exemptions on council tax create a “significant financial challenge”, they said.
The total cost of students not paying council tax in Bristol is unclear, but this year it increased by £2.6 million. The issue was raised during a full council meeting, when councillors also noted how students benefit the city in other ways, such as drinking in pubs.
Liberal Democrat councillor Caroline Gooch said: “University cities are over-burdened with student exemptions compared with non-university towns and rural areas, and the government should implement a subsidy scheme for local authorities with high student populations.”
Labour Cllr Tom Blenkinsop added: “Every student household we have is one that isn’t paying tax. Economically speaking, for the city as a whole, we benefit from having a large student population, it’s good that we’re a university city.
“But it may be advisable to ask ourselves: how much student housing is too much? Would we be better served by building denser, more specialised student housing? Although I grant this isn’t always popular.”
Thousands of student flats are being built across the city at the moment. Developers can get permission for homes that fall below national standards on space and daylight, for example the block of flats under construction on Gas Lane behind Temple Meads train station.
In 2023, councillors gave planning permission to developers to heap an extra storey on top of this building, despite concerns about the dingy lack of light in many of the rooms. One councillor at the time said that future residents “would probably be asleep half the day” during weekends.
Conservative Cllr Jonathan Hucker said: “Bristol has a very large student population and an increasing number of student exemptions, and this obviously provides a very significant financial challenge for the council. However, the large student population does bring benefits to the city’s hospitality sector and night-time economy. That view is based on my own observations from many evenings spent in Wetherspoons.”