Noisy students are making life a misery say neighbours

The widow of the late Lord Clyde, who died last year, is among those who live on Dublin Street leading a campaign against a bid for a new licence for a shared rental flat.

Lady Clyde, who lives immediately below the flat, said it had become "the party house for students", with noise, antisocial behaviour and water leaks causing problems over several years.

Her campaign has been backed by solicitors and doctors that also live and work on the street.

But the company that has recently taken over the management of the flat has said there is no longer a problem - and says it has refurbished the property and vetted the students that now live there.

In her objection letter to the city council, Lady Clyde, whose husband was a life peer and led the inquiry into the Orkney child abuse scandal, said: "The key issue lies in the size and layout of the property, which I believe make it unmanageable by any landlord.

"The combination of huge common parts, numerous large bedrooms and a central location make this 'the party house' for students.

"Whoever manages this property will have the same problems that our current landlord faces when attempting to regulate even the most responsible of tenants. As long as it has an HMO (house in multiple occupancy) licence, this property will remain a party destination that creates hell for its neighbours and a potential fire hazard for the continual flow of people that party in this second and third floor flat."

Among the problems she said she has suffered from the flat over the last four years are "very loud all-night parties which often spread out into the street", people being sick out of the windows into her garden and food and cigarettes being thrown from the windows on to the cars below.

She also claims that laminate flooring means that the "jumping, dancing and moving furniture" in the middle of the night keeps her awake. And she says there have been several water leaks in recent years.

Her complaints were backed up by solicitor Robert Blair, senior partner at Dublin Street-based Connell & Connell. He said: "We ourselves are not disturbed from this flat during the day but when we arrive in the office in the morning we often receive comments from neighbours about the overnight noise, particularly over the weekend, from the flat, the partying and coming and going in the street. We sometimes see the debris in the street of the 'after party'."

However, St Andrew Square-based Splendid Property Management has now taken over ownership of the flat and new tenants - all postgraduate students - moved in in September.

Company director James Brooks said: "I believe there were problems with the previous tenancy. We took this on in the summer after the old tenants moved out. We have new tenants in now and have not had any complaints.

"We have carefully vetted them. It is key to get the right tenants wherever you are because you have got to look after the neighbours. That is important wherever you are and it is clearly important in the heart of the New Town.

"We have put a lot of man hours into this property and we're very hopeful there won't be problems in the future."

Councillors on the licensing sub-committee of the regulatory committee will decide whether to grant the HMO licence on Friday.