Year: 2017

I recently graduated from the University of Central Lancashire where I rented private student accommodation at Jubilee Court in Preston.

The new building was unfit for occupation for parts of the 2016/17 academic year and the facilities substandard for the rest of the time.

We spent the first 16 days of our tenancy in a hotel and were told we could revoke our contracts if we wanted. When we were allowed to take possession on the first day of term, parts of the building were still under construction, there was no car parking that we had paid for, no lifts, fridge, table or chairs. There was intermittent hot water, then none at all for four days in October …

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Liverpool students have threatened a rent strike over the “appalling” state of their accommodation after the firm running it collapsed.

The tenants claim they have been left without water, heating, wifi, secure doors, smoke detectors, working fridges, washing machines or ovens for long spells since September …

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Student accommodation provider Study Inn has sold its property assets in a £135m deal that will help fund its new portfolio.

Investment group Arlington Advisors has bought its 10 sites – six in Coventry and one each in Bristol, Cambridge, Nottingham and Sheffield – and the 1,500 rooms takes its student portfolio above 10,000 beds.

Sean McKeown, Arlington Advisors’ managing director, said these cities “are experiencing strong international demand for good quality student accommodation” …

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A developer insists that a block of 244 student flats will be ready in time for the next academic year – despite major delays hitting the project.

The Sky Building in Newcastle was originally due to be open in September in time for the new term at Keele University, but the development is still not complete months later …

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A scheme for a nine-storey hall of residence for 189 students, across the street from another major student housing development, was approved last night.

The project at Pelham Terrace, in Lewes Road, Brighton, will transform the site of the disused Lectern pub into a tower block with a community centre on the ground floor and private flats on the top two floors.

After a lengthy debate, city councillors voted nine to one in favour of the scheme, which will be directly opposite the Preston Barracks development approved earlier this year to house 1,300 students …

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Judges and legal workers at Huddersfield County Court may be on the move.

Developers have applied to convert Huddersfield’s civil court – Queensgate House – into 156 student flats …

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Fresh figures reveal a record number of international students have applied and been accepted to take degree courses at UK universities, however the number of students from EU countries has dropped.

Ucas, the university admissions service, said 2,090 more international, non-EU students applied to start undergraduate courses this autumn, an increase of 2.8% on last year.

The total number of applicants hit 76,380 – the highest on record, reversing the drop in numbers seen in 2016, while the numbers of overseas students accepted on to courses increased by 5%.

Applicants from the EU dropped by 4.4% to 51,185, some 2,375 fewer than in 2016, reversing a year-on-year trend that has risen since 2012 …

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Plans for a new multi-million pound Belfast student housing development have been approved on appeal following initial council refusal.

The Irish News can reveal that planning permission was granted on Tuesday for a 620-bed development at Donegall Street, close to the new Ulster University campus, due for completion in 2020.

The land, which is currently a HandyPark car park, is set to to be transformed into a ten-storey student building, as well as associated amenity and ancillary support accommodation and 54 lower ground floor parking spaces, according to the newly-approved application …

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Unite Group has secured a new £500m unsecured debt facility from HSBC and RBS that provides additional financial headroom for its development pipeline and greater financial flexibility.

The facilities will increase the debt maturity by 12 months and with an initial margin of 145 basis points, will reduce the average cost of debt, when fully drawn, to 3.9% from 4.2% currently.

The new loan facilities comprise a five year £350m revolving credit facility and a one-year £150m bridge loan, replacing a £280m secured debt facility. Unite, which provides student accommodation, intends to replace the bridge loan in the first half of next year with longer term unsecured debt to further extend its maturity profile and diversify its finance sources …

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A Derby street could be set to get a fourth multi-storey block of student apartments.

This week, plans were submitted to Derby City Council by Godwin Developments to create the eight-storey development in Agard Street, which is already the focus of a number of projects to create new student accommodation.

This latest scheme, which would be in the Friar Gate Conservation Area, would be built on a site currently used as a car park, between Northgate House and the Derby Chiropractic Clinic …

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