Working Papers in Responsible Banking & Finance Is the St Andrews Bubble About to Burst ? Assessing the Economic and Social Impact of Studentification and HMO Policy in a Small University Town B

“S tuden tification ” depicts the com plex socio-spatial process resultin g from the m ajor in flux of studen ts in to specific spatial localities in certain un iv ersity tow n s an d n eig hbourhoods. In recen t years it has becom e a hig hly con ten tious issue w ithin local com m un ities an da topicreceiv in g g row in g lev els of academ icin terest. A k ey issue driv in g studen tification are houses in m ultiple occupation (H M O ). This paper exam in es the econ om ican dsocial con sequen ces of studen tification an dH M O policy w ithin S tA n drew s. The in itial fin din g s from this exploratory study sug g estthatg row in g lev els of studen tification an d H M O policy chan g es are hav in g a sig n ifican t, an d in som e cases, deleterious effect on k ey residen tial areas of the tow n ’s housin g m ark etresultin g in low er lev els of ow n eroccupied properties,restriction s in affordable housin g for local residen ts,reduced opportun ities for Un iv ersity staff to liv e locally,house price in flation in affected areas an d in creased ten sion s betw een local residen ts an d the Un iv ersity coupled w ith a sen se of com m un ity disem pow erm en t. P arts of the tow n are alsodisplayin g the “scarrin g ” effects associated w ith studen tification such as the dow n g radin g of the physical en v iron m en t. The paper con cludes the m ark et-orien ted n eoliberal H M O policy adoptedby the local authority,Fife C oun cil,features all the hallm ark s of classic “disjoin ted in crem en talism ” w ithin the policy m ak in g process an d represen ts “bad publicpolicy”. The paper calls for g reater lev els of strateg ic plan n in g an dstron g erstak eholderan dcom m un ity participation tohelpn eg ate the adv erse spillov ers associated w ith rapid studen tpopulation expan sion w ithin S t A n drew s. P olicy option s an dsug g estion s forfurtherresearch are outlin ed. WP No 18-002