Town versus gown tensions over accommodation
Tensions over accommodation between students and residents at university towns and cities is on the increase, a leading higher education figure has warned.
Professor Sir Tim O’Shea, principal of Edinburgh University, said private landlords across the UK were continuing to buy up flats traditionally occupied by families and renting them to students.
He said: “That can create tensions between the university and the wider community because it changes the dynamic of a particular area, particularly if the properties in question are allowed to become run down …