Another 80-bed student complex planned for Chester city centre
Developers are consulting on early-stage plans for an 80-bed student complex to the rear of city centre residents already concerned about ‘studentification’.
Watkin Jones and Liberty Properties want to build a managed accommodation block on a temporary car park off Hunter Street at the back of historic properties in King Street.
A consultation event has been taking place at the Crowne Plaza hotel (August 25 and 26) ahead of a formal planning application being lodged with a view to the accommodation being available in September 2017.
King Street residents, who live in Georgian and Victorian properties, already feel vulnerable to an increase in the number of private sector landlords seeking student tenants.
An artist’s impression of what the proposed 80-bed student block would look like off Hunter Street
This led Cheshire West and Chester Council to adopt a policy aimed at curbing the number of houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs) in their neighbourhood.
And news about the Hunter Street proposal follows the announcement that construction will begin soon on a 550-bed student scheme on the nearby Linenhall car park.
But developers behind the latest scheme, which would front the St Martin’s Way ring road, argue the 80-bed complex will reduce pressure on the supply of private rented housing (typically uncontrolled, unmanaged housing in multiple occupation) in Chester …