Students are likely to face restrictions on where they live in Edinburgh after the government announced UK-wide plans to end the ‘studentification’ of university towns last week.

Last Friday, the Department of Communities and Local Government launched a report which will make it easier for councils to limit the number of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) in popular student areas.

Such action would curb the number of student flats in areas such as Marchmont, Bruntsfield and Newington with the government introducing a cap on HMO’s in these student-saturated neighbourhoods.

The report suggests that having too many students in one area is detrimental to the neighbourhood, causing a negative impact on the sense of community as well as being the root cause of litter and anti-social behaviour issues. The report also raised concerns that highly-populated student areas turn into ‘ghost towns’ during the holidays – a situation the Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint called ‘unacceptable.’

"I want to consider further how the planning proposals might help councils change term time only towns into properly planned towns that blend the student populations into well mixed neighbourhoods that are alive all year round."

Student leaders have responded angrily to Flint’s comments, with NUS President Wes Streeting stating that he was ‘alarmed’ at students being displaced in the middle of a housing crisis.

He added: "we are also worried that bureaucracy will discourage landlords from the HMO market."

HMO quotas were due to be introduced to Edinburgh last year by the Scottish Government, but after a successful ‘Right to Rent’ campaign by students the legislation was dropped in July.