A Birmingham MP wants a root and branch review of the student housing market in the city as neighbourhoods are being blighted by piecemeal development.
MP Steve McCabe says parts of his Selly Oak constituency are swamped with student accommodation at the same time as further planning applications are being approved.
As well as purpose-built apartment blocks, many family homes lining Selly Oak's terraced streets have been converted and extended to cram in students - a move which led to the area being likened to a Brazilian 'favela' last year.
Mr McCabe was speaking out after plans for a block of 267 bedsits on the former Rich Bitch recording studio site on Bristol Road were approved by the council's planning committee.
The block was recently described by a resident as a 'grain silo for students'.
The studio, based in a former engineering factory where the likes of Black Sabbath, ELO and Slade have played and recorded, is set to relocate to new premises.
About 1,000 student flats are in development in the area while rows upon rows of terraced family houses have also been converted for students.
The MP said: "We need a full review of student housing in the city. The planning department should stop approving these schemes until it has taken a good look at the overall supply and demand for student housing and suitability and location of sites."
He pointed out there was major redevelopment at the University of Birmingham and the relocation of Birmingham City University to the city centre, as well as a general stalling of student numbers after many years of expansion.
The MP says he has been inundated with complaints from residents over the issue in recent years.
"It seems illogical to build more student accommodation when there is no demand for this and I'm concerned that yet again it doesn't seem that the planning department are listening to local residents' concerns. There is already a surplus of student accommodation in Selly Oak," he added.
Birmingham's planning department currently considers each individual planning application on its own merit. It has so far refused calls for a wide ranging review.
It has also been argued more apartment blocks will lead to less demand for houses and see some converted back into much-needed family homes.
