Activities of Oxford Brookes University have filled a fair few column centimetres in the news pages and letters pages of this newspaper over the last 12 months.

Its proposed new campus block in Headington was one of the biggest stories of 2009 and the issue is likely to run on well into this year.

On the surface, it was a planning story about the size and location of the proposed new building. Understandably, there are some living close to the new campus block who were and remain concerned about it.

However, the planning application served to highlight a wider discontent about the impact of Oxford Brookes and its students on the greater Headington and East Oxford residential area.

In particular, there have been concerns raised about the concentration of students in particular areas, so-called ‘student ghettos’ where the local population has been swamped because of the growth in private rented accommodation for students.

Essentially, private landlords have been buying up properties in particular areas close to the university and renting them to students.

It is not something that Brookes can control itself. This is the free market at work.

So, we welcome new Government legislation, that Oxford City Council is proposing to quickly adopt, to introduce new licensing arrangements for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs.) The new regulations will give the council greater powers over some of the issues that have most tested local residents, namely the run-down aspect of some properties exhibiting poor external decoration, little attention to waste collection and badly maintained gardens.

Of course, this is not only about Brookes University and its surrounding area, it is an issue that affects large parts of the city including the Abingdon Road area, Cowley Road area and Jericho.

One of the things that makes Oxford should a vibrant city is the large number of young people coming and going.

It means that the city needs a large stock of privately rented accommodation.

Apart from Cambridge, there are no other cities in England so dominated by universities and young people.

While more regulation is not always welcome there is a clear case for special measures in Oxford.