The battle aginst the spread of these properties is spearheaded by Headingley Against Landlords (HeAL).

Bill Rollinson, chair of HeAL, says: "Our main aims are to re-create a sustainable, balanced community in Headingley and surrounding areas and to protect long-term residents from the ravages of uncontrolled landlordism."

Responsibility
HeAL is calling for Leeds city council to introduce a shared housing registration scheme to control the development of shared housing and place the responsibility on the landlord for maintaining the appearance of the property and meeting all safety standards.

They are also calling for a complete ban on "To let" signs, new pubs/clubs and for Leeds city council to refuse planning permission for any new shared housing in Headingley.

HeAL have drawn up a proposal to distribute students around Leeds. This involves the universities, Unipol (a charity providing student housing), students and landlords building a register of student houses and universities only enrolling students who live at an address on the unipol register.

Linkers scheme
HeAL combats the isolation of many long-term residents with the Linkers scheme. streets each have a permanent resident (linker) who supports the other residents in the street.

The linkers scheme is based on the belief: "that people value a community more when it offers them personal support."

Alison Ravetz from Little Woodhouse Community Association adds: "Landlords just don’t look after property, particularly gardens. "

"Many are absentee landlords who don’t take notice of long-term residents, they just think that they can do what they like and make changes to property.

"There are probably good landlords but unfortunately it is only the bad ones that you hear about."