A landlord has joined the “studentification” debate saying he is being made a scapegoat by students and residents.

As the issue continues to be discussed as part of a consultation by Brighton and Hove City Council, many are blaming landlords for the run-down appearance of some accommodation and for cramming too many students into small houses.

This week The Argus reported student union representatives from both Sussex and Brighton universities believe landlords should take more responsibility for some of the issues.

But the landlord, who asked not to be named, believes businessmen like him are being blamed for issues they have no control over.

He said: “We can’t be responsible for our tenants’ behaviour. They are very well protected by the law and we can’t evict them unless there is something very serious.”

He also agreed it is a minority of students who cause problems and said that after owning three flats, which each house three students, for seven years he has never had problems with tenants.

He said: “It is a tiny minority causing the problems.

“Noise is a common problem and can only be dealt with by the council and the noise abatement team.

“I know from experience that tenants have to record noise over several weeks before the council will act. This is not good enough.

“Zero tolerance should be the reaction in the first instance. Litter and fly-tipping is also the responsibility of the council and antisocial behaviour should be dealt with by the police.

“Universities should also take more responsibility.

“They should hold lessons for freshers on how to behave away from home and there should be consequences for nuisance students, like disciplinary action for bad behaviour that may lead to expulsion for persistent offenders.”

Councillor Anne Meadows, who is chairing the council committee examining the issue, said she was confident solutions could be found to some of the problems.

She said: “I am a great believer that very small actions can have a big impact on peoples’ lives and I think it will only take a few small actions to help solve a lot of the problems.

“However, I do feel that some areas might have reached a critical mass in terms of studentification and that overwhelms the community. We need to consider how we deal with those situations as well.”

Coun Meadows said the first meeting with residents and student union representatives had been “very positive”.

Series of meetings planned

A meeting will be held on December 5, which will include managing agents, landlords and universities.

The meeting is in addition to those which will be held on November 7, when experts including Dr Darren Smith, from Brighton University, who coined the term studentification, will speak and November 21 when council officers, including those from CityClean and the planning department will attend.

The November 7 meeting will be at Hove Town Hall at 2pm and the November 21 and December 5 meetings at Brighton Town Hall at 2pm.

Send us your questions about students and studentification to The Friday Inquisition. Taking part this week will be student leader, Sam Forster, the vice-president for education and equalities at the University of Brighton’s student union, Councillor Anne Meadows from Brighton and Hove City Council, who is carrying out a consultation into the issue and Richa Kaul-Padte, the welfare officer for the University of Sussex Students' Union. Who do you think is responsible for studentification? Vote online at theargus.co.uk/ballots