PROPOSALS to charge shared house landlords business rates will harm the most vulnerable and the lowest paid in society, campaigners have warned.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) has strongly criticised proposals by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Labour administration to make HMO landlords pay business rates calling it not a “sensible strategy”.

The campaign group claim the additional costs will be passed on to HMO tenants and price them out of the city.

Council leader Warren Morgan has called on the Government to help the city offset the costs of having the most HMOs in the country.

The Labour group is looking to gain the support of rival parties before taking a request to ministers in the treasury and the department for local government and communities.

A similar proposal was raised by councillors in the Labour heartland of Liverpool earlier this month.

But the plans have been strongly criticised by NLA policy officer Gavin Dick who dismissed the chances that the Government would back the proposals.

He said previous moves by the council to introduce tougher licensing in parts of the city most affected by the issue had not worked but merely displaced HMOs to other neighbourhoods.

Mr Dick also echoed concerns by Conservative councillors that landlords will pass on the extra costs to their tenants.

He said: “What this derives from is that from 2020, councils should be self-financing and they are wanting to see what they can raise money from and they are looking at landlords because they have no love for the private rented sector.

“These proposals will dramatically reduce the private rented sector and hurt the most vulnerable in society.

“They are looking to transfer the blame on to landlords assuming they might not have a link to the city while they expect the tenants might vote for them.

“Landlords will pass on these additional charges which will be paid by the most vulnerable on fixed incomes and will force them away from Brighton and into Eastbourne and Worthing and expect them to commute from there to jobs in Brighton.

“This is just not a sensible strategy.”

Outlining the proposals, cllr Morgan said the city needed to find a happier balance of the costs and benefits of being a university town.

But University of Sussex registrar John Duffy said a lot of work was already being carried out to ensure cooperation between students and residents including a recent street clean-up in Viaduct Road.

He said: "We recognise that some residents are concerned about the changes in their own community and we are talking with lots of different residents’ action groups to see what positive and useful activities the university can bring directly to their areas.

“Having recently met with the leader of the council, Warren Morgan, we have given our commitment to do as much as we can to support and help our local communities.”