STUDENT housing has emerged as a major concern in York’s Hull Road ward, says one of the candidates at the forthcoming City of York Council by-election.

Labour candidate Mick Hoban said 76 per cent of residents who responded to a party survey said student housing was their top local concern, and the people he met while campaigning on the door step were also saying the same thing.

He said 15 per cent of properties in the ward were student homes, and the main concern of residents was focused on properties not being kept in a good condition by landlords.

He said he was campaigning for the authority to apply to the Government for powers to license student properties, under which landlords had to prove they were a fit and proper person and their property met certain conditions before they were granted a licence.