Parties Votes Evaporating Over Time

[J.G.Harston]

Jun 3, 2020 16:37:19 GMT lancastrian said:

Jun 2, 2020 20:25:25 GMT J.G.Harston said:

No they're not, they are residential property. The fact that they are let commercially by a commercial company is irrelevent, they are residential property, so any taxation on the occupants would be residential property taxation, not commercial property taxation.

I'd agree that privately rented blocks with 52 week contracts are residential property just as they would be if the inhabitants were not students. What is the tax situation for uni owned halls though, only open to students during term time to facilitate the business of the university? Those seem more akin to a hotel attached to a conference venue, and indeed during holidays some are actually used like that.

Going from memory back when I was at Stirling University, for nine months the halls of residence were residential property and taxed as residential property, and for three months they were "hotels" and taxed as hotels. It was one of the reasons that those of us who remained over the holidays were all shuffled into one small block.

[Foggy]

Privately owned student halls should not have any special treatment. University-owned halls should have a separate arrangement, since most public universities are still technically registered charities, despite being encouraged by successive governments to think of themselves as, and act like, profit-making businesses over the past few decades.

Halls of residence which are intended only to be occupied by undergraduates from late September to early June, may charge conference rates for use over the summer and be taxed accordingly.

According to my Law professor, the University of Bath pays a literal peppercorn rent of one peppercorn per year to BANES Council for the lease on its principal site at Claverton Down, on the condition that the area is used primarily (though, it should be noted, not exclusively) for educational purposes. I wonder how many other campus universities have a similar deal with their local authority.

[J.G.Harston]

Jun 3, 2020 22:35:11 GMT Foggy said:

Privately owned student halls should not have any special treatment. University-owned halls should have a separate arrangement, since most public universities are still technically registered charities, despite being encouraged by successive governments to think of themselves as, and act like, profit-making businesses over the past few decades.

Halls of residence which are intended only to be occupied by undergraduates from late September to early June, may charge conference rates for use over the summer and be taxed accordingly.

According to my Law professor, the University of Bath pays a literal peppercorn rent of one peppercorn per year to BANES Council for the lease on its principal site at Claverton Down, on the condition that the area is used primarily (though, it should be noted, not exclusively) for educational purposes. I wonder how many other campus universities have a similar deal with their local authority.

I can't remember the details, but Stirling University has some sort of "deal" for occupying the site and estate of Airthey Castle and taking over the pre-existing Arts Centre.

[bsjmcr]

Jun 1, 2020 8:46:25 GMT Defenestrated Fipplebox said:

I was looking at the local election results for Sheffield Hallam / Sheffield Fulwood Ward since my parents bought their house in it in 1968. What really struck me was scale of the Conservatives loss of percentage of vote, I realised there had been a big drop but still. Nobody would have believed this if it had been suggested in 1968. I realise there have been boundry changes over 51 years but they haven't been huge enough on their own to cause the collapse, cause the the overall trend.

Conservative (Candidate every election)

highest % = 1968 = 79.6%

lowest % = 2019 = 8.2%

My home ward, St Mary's, covering Prestwich in Bury. 

Highest Conservative vote was as recent as 1992, at 57.2%.
The lowest was also in 2019, 7.7%

Labour started taking over throughout the 90's, turning it into a relatively safe seat, but the turning point was 2006 when the Lib Dems won from 3rd place, thereby pushing the Conservatives into 3rd for the first time when it appears they have never even tried since and have been stuck there, their vote evaporating rapidly. It has since always been a Lab/Lib marginal, with Labour majorities of 19 and 57 votes in 2016/18, and was gained by the Lib Dems with a huge majority of 946 last year. Clearly their bar charts finally paid off here.

This is interesting as there aren't any major demographic changes in terms of say a growing student population, there are no universities nearby. Prestwich is known for having a sizeable Jewish population, but at 10% this ward doesn't have nearly as high a population as the neighbouring one Sedgley (which, incidentally was held by Labour last year despite the antisemitism). It has always been a residential, relatively middle class area but not super-affluent or super-deprived. One factor may be a 'Didsbury trend' as the area becomes increasingly desirable for more liberal-leaning public sector types with families priced out of the City centre and Didsbury, where you can really only get apartments for the price of a decent family home in Prestwich. At General Elections it always reverts to being a Lab-Con marginal, and I would guess they would have been neck and neck last year, usually Labour would have led reasonably comfortably ever since '97. Antisemitism would have come into play here with Corbyn being an issue, but equally the Labour vote would have stayed stubborn amongst the majority of remain-leaning professional voters here, plus the new Labour candidate lived locally.