Bridge Invests in London Student Housing
In partnership with real estate investor Chancerygate, Bridge Ventures recently invested in a student housing development in East London …
New student accommodation may ease housing shortage – York
A multi-million pound development to build hundreds of student rooms to help to free up larger houses amid a critical shortage of family homes in one of Yorkshire’s property hotspots is due to be completed this summer.
The seven-storey Gray’s Wharf halls of residence in York, a £12m scheme which will provide 232 rooms, are on schedule to be finished for the intake of new students at the start of the academic year in September.
A lack of larger properties across the city has become an increasing problem in recent years after private landlords bought up scores of three and four-bedroom houses to rent out to students …
Student fees hike ‘may cut applications by half’
A big rise in tuition fees would lead to a dramatic reduction in the number of teenagers aspiring to go to university, with those from poorer backgrounds the most likely to give up hope of getting a degree, research reveals today.
Four out of five young people in England and Wales currently think they will probably go on into higher education, but that figure would drop to just 45% if fees doubled to £7,000 a year, and to a third among those whose with unemployed parents, the poll found.
The findings, in a survey commissioned by the Sutton Trust educational charity, come after the universities minister, David Willetts, told the Guardian this month that the cost of hundreds of thousands of degree courses was a “burden on the taxpayer that had to be tackled”, and students should consider fees “more as an obligation to pay higher income tax” than a debt. Lord Browne’s independent review into student funding reports this autumn …
CityBlock gets green light for student flats in Leicester
CityBlock has secured planning permission for 76 student flats on a derelict site in Leicester city centre.
A redundant factory on the conservation area site will be demolished and flats built next to CityBlock’s existing development in Careys Close, which opened last September.
HOW Planning prepared the application with architects SSHarc …
Old dairy flats plan in Hull Road set to be refused – York
Plans to transform a derelict site in York into hundreds of student flats look set to be turned down when they go before councillors next week.
Officers have recommended the proposals to build a mix of three, four and five-storey blocks of flats on the site of the old dairy in Hull Road be refused, as the buildings would “harm the character of the street scene”.
The report conceded that student housing was acceptable on the site in principle, but the suggested plans were considered an overdevelopment of the site The report said the “excessive height” of the proposed blocks would dominate the area and cause loss of privacy for neighbours …
Councils to get powers over student flat numbers
Councils, not ministers, should decide whether to restrict the number of student-occupied flats in any single area, the government has said.
Laws passed in April required landlords to get permission to let a property to three or more unrelated people.
It was aimed at tackling concerns about the growth of “student ghettos” …
Student flats plan for site of former pottery factory – Stafford
More than 100 students could be housed on the site of a former pottery.
Developers want to transform the old Caledonia Mills site in Shelton into 36 apartments, to create living space for 120 Staffordshire University undergraduates.
The U-shaped building, which will be part four-storey and part three-storey, will also include parking for 18 cars and 90 bicycles and a central courtyard with a lawn …
Watkin Jones Group makes a half year profit of £6m
North Wales based Watkin Jones Group says it has made a “a very positive start to the financial year” after chalking up a half year profit before tax of £6m.
The group, whic provides direct employment for 376 people, said it had met its six months profits target on sales of £60m for the six months ending March 31, 2010, and was aiming for a profit before tax figure of £12m for the full year.
It added that, against the continuing backdrop of extremely difficult economic conditions, its three core trading divisions had all performed above expectations …
Mansion Group keeps steady progress after restructure
Student property firm Mansion Group has made a pre-tax profit of £1.74m, in the eight months since it changed its year end to December, following a restructuring of the group.
The Manchester-based group, which employs around 25 staff, acquires, refurbishes and asset manage student properties.
Following the credit crunch it has changed its strategy from targeting rich individual investors through buy to let marketplace to offering properties to investors through student property funds …
Talbot Heath farmland housing plans approved – Bournemouth
Councillors in Poole have voted to allow a controversial plan to build hundreds of new homes on one of the last green areas in the area.
Protesters have argued the proposals for homes and student accommodation on farmland at Talbot Heath, Dorset, would be environmentally damaging.
However backers of the scheme say with nearly 4,000 people on Poole’s housing waiting list the development is needed …