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Commercial property investors may soon have to comply with restrictions on the concentration of student accommodation following a report published by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The report responds to concerns over the "studentification" of university towns which leaves many locations "dormant" due to the high number of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) in individual areas.
It outlined a number of measures that may be adopted to address the issue, including changes to the Use Classes Order planning rules and capping the distribution of HMOs by setting limits on the number allowed in areas.
Housing and planning minister Caroline Flint said: "It is not acceptable that current rental practices allow unplanned student enclaves to evolve to such an extent that local communities are left living as ghost towns following the summer student exodus."
Changes to planning rules may ensure councils can "blend the student populations into well-mixed neighbourhoods", the minister added.
However, this may only address part of the problem as many landlords are still letting properties without HMO licences, it has been claimed.
Chris Horne, editor of Property Hawk, recently said by doing so, a number of landlords are "falling foul" of the law.
