The derelict Head Post Office in Fitzalan Square is due to be converted into a college for overseas students as part of a proposed £16m development that includes a neighbouring 18-storey tower of student flats.

Plans have been submitted to the council with a view to the teaching accommodation being ready by July next year and the accommodation more than 270 students by July 2015.

Details have yet to be assessed by the council, although the prospect of the restoration of the old post office, a listed building that closed in 1999, will be welcomed across the board …

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A university in north Lancashire has revealed major refurbishment plans for a high-rise hall of residence.

The 14-storey Bowland Tower at Lancaster University was built in 1968 and has not been used since July 2008.

The university has now submitted plans to the city council to reopen it and make it fit for modern student accommodation …

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Work has begun on the refurbishment of one of the town’s best-known buildings.

Threadworks, previously known as Thatcher’s soft furnishings, is the first property to be turned into student accommodation under the council’s Bringing Clusters Of Empty Homes Into Use scheme.

Funding of £2.8m was secured by the council last year as part of a scheme to revitalise Huddersfield and Dewsbury town centres and meet wider economic needs in the district.The Thatcher’s building is in a prominent location in the town centre and has been vacant since the end of 2011 …

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Property investment firm Knight Knox International yesterday revealed that it plans to create a ‘boutique’ student development, in Kelham Island, Sheffield.

The project – Dunfields – would provide more than 80 students with private accommodation.

The plans have been devised by Manchester-based Knight Knox International in partnership with the architecture firm, Coda Studios …

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Plans to build 115 student rooms and teaching space at a former petrol staton and garage in Penrhyn Road were approved last night.

The proposals, from real estate company Amro, went  through Kingston Council’s development control committee last night on chairman Councillor Vicki Harris’ deciding vote.

A plan for 116 rooms with shops below had been rejected by councillors last year, but revised designs including multi-coloured bricks and fewer bedrooms persuaded the committee …

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Sanctuary Group has completed its takeover of Cosmopolitan Housing Group, rescuing the financially troubled landlord from potential insolvency.

The merger has created the UK’s largest social landlord, with 94,000 homes owned and managed …

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A rundown nightclub will be turned into high-quality student accommodation as part of Tottenham’s regeneration, councillors have agreed.

At a meeting of Haringey Council’s planning committee, proposals to demolish the building in Chesnut Road, currently used by the Opera House nightclub, and replace it with 64 student apartments were approved.

The building’s 19th Century Italianate façade will be restored in the redevelopment, with the new four-storey block built behind the historic frontage …

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Regeneration specialist St Modwen has signed a development agreement to deliver the first phase of Swansea University’s new £450m Science and Innovation Campus.

It has also been confirmed that St Modwen has completed the sale of income from the student accommodation to the M&G Secured Property Income Fund, advised by PRUPIM, for £32m.

The entire campus will be located on St. Modwen’s 65 acre Transit site …

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A developer plans to expand a contentious scheme for students flats in Egham Hill.

Danehurst Developments Ltd, formerly Ternion Ltd, wrote to residents earlier this month, advising them of its intention to acquire 57 and 59 Egham Hill to build accommodation for 91 students.

It is currently building 125 student flats at 61-71 Egham Hill – a development that was originally refused by Runnymede Borough Council’s planning committee in September 2010 …

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There are fears that plans to build more than 400 student flats in Chester will cause further problems.

Edinburgh-based Miller Developments want to build three canalside student accommodation blocks near Telford’s Warehouse. But residents in the Garden Quarter are worried their ‘vibrant community’ could be tipped over the edge.

There have been long-standing problems in the area with rowdy late night behaviour, rubbish and parking although action has been taken to address these issues over recent year …

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