Newcastle Student Residences Continue to Grow

The last count in May 2017 reveals that Newcastle had 8,822 student houses to welcome the new wave of freshers set to arrive. Since Newcastle homes two large universities, it has witnessed a massive rise in its student population that paved the road to student accommodation growth. 

Cllr Ged Bell, cabinet member for employment at Newcastle City Council, said: “As well as ensuring there is sufficient student accommodation, we also seek to ensure there is a balanced mix of housing, including family housing, within our communities. As part of our plans for growth in Newcastle, we expect there to be an additional 21,000 homes in the city by 2030 and have already seen record levels of housing development in the last two years.”

Plans have been launched by Adderstone Group to demolish an empty office block at Manors Business Park in Newcastle to replace with a new building for students. The area is close to Manors Metro station which makes the prompting plans appealing. Creating a student village close to universities and colleges will require flattening a number of buildings, including Clough House, Manor View House and Technopole.

The aforementioned developer, that has already driven previous successful plans for a number of student housing in the city, developed proposals for other student buildings, like Eastgate House at the Manors Business Park, which would see the demolition of the outdated building and creation of a new seven and eight-storey high student accommodation building.

Documents have been submitted by Ryder Architecture to present applications for how the student scheme would look like. The proposals have around 290 bedrooms distributed between being studio apartments and two to six-bedroom cluster apartments, all fully-furnished with kitchen and en-suite shower rooms. They also include communal spaces for students at ground level and two roof terraces.

The architects say: “Comprising purpose-built, high-quality residential accommodation and commercial spaces at ground level to meet local demand, the scheme will complement the ambition for the redevelopment of the wider Manors Business Park.

“Creating vibrant and well connected residential accommodation on the proposed site will form the next step in the regeneration of Manors Business Park, aiming to provide a new cohesive city quarter comprising residential-led mixed-use development.”

“As purpose-built student accommodation is becoming more evident in and around the city centre there are a number of precedents to compare. The drive for new accommodation is still apparent with former university halls of residence becoming unsuitable for student living. Alongside this is the aspiration to free up residential properties in nearby communities (such as Jesmond and Heaton) for young professionals and families.”

A planning statement submitted by Adderston Group added: “Although the site was previously identified as an area to be retained in employment use by the Newcastle Unitary Development Plan 1998, a growing recognition has emerged in more recent years that the continued use of the site for employment uses is not viable. This is due to sustained low demand for the existing office space within the wider Business Park.

“This site offers the council a chance to create student accommodation in a location which is easily accessible. The council recognises that students play an important role in Newcastle’s economy so, in order to encourage the growth of its educational institutions, there still needs to be more sites allocated for student development. With the site’s proximity to both Newcastle University and Northumbria University, it is an obvious location for student accommodation development.

“Also, more student accommodation within the urban core will relieve the pressure on residential areas at the edge of the city centre, which would allow those areas to become a place for family homes again. As the development will provide housing in the form of student accommodation, it will help ensure the vitality of Newcastle city centre.”