Residents fear student 'purpose-built accommodation' is in danger of 'swamping' communities

Look around any of our university towns and cities, and you'll likely to see the same thing - cranes on the skyline, tower blocks taking shape.

Across the Midlands, thousands of student flats are either in the pipeline or already under construction - projects which often grab the headlines.

But in cities like Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester and Coventry, the proliferation of purpose-built student accommodation can sometimes cause tension between universities and local communities.

In areas with large student populations, there has been and continues to be resistance to new student tower blocks - residents often complain that they're "swamping" their neighbourhood and changing its character.

In Birmingham, the group, Community Partnership for Selly Oak (CP4SO) has opposed a number of planning applications.

In Nottingham, the Lenton Drives and Neighbours Residents' Association has similar concerns, and says the amount of new building has even encouraged some residents to move out of the area.

Nottingham Civic Society is more concerned with aesthetics - it's opposing plans to build a 27-storey student tower block in the city centre, saying it's too high.

The scheme by developers Code, housing nearly 1300 students, would create one of the tallest buildings in Nottingham. Code says there's a proven need for more student accommodation in the city and the council has already earmarked the site for a "tall building". It claims the project would also generate £150m in investment.

The construction and real estate industries point to a mismatch between supply and demand to justify the need for more purpose-built student accommodation.

It's estimated that student numbers are likely to increase by 2.8% year on year - driven by a population surge in the number of eighteen-year-olds. And most will need somewhere to live in their chosen town or city.

According to Birmingham City Council, if you look at the student numbers and the new accommodation in the pipeline, there's likely to be a shortfall of nearly 15,000 student beds in the city by 2025. Birmingham City University told ITV News Central the shortage amounts to a "crisis".

The figures are borne out by student experience: undergraduates we've spoken to have described the growing challenge in finding somewhere to live.

The battle for beds, they say, is becoming so intense, that they're having to start looking for accommodation earlier and earlier in the academic year.

Affordability is the other big issue - there may be more flats being built, but are they within reach financially?

For many students, the only alternative is the classic "student digs" - houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) - which often work out much cheaper than swanky studio flats with all mod cons.

It's often argued that the provision of more purpose-built student accommodation will free up HMOs to return to family housing, and reduce the "studentification" of areas like Selly Oak in Birmingham and Lenton in Nottingham.

In practice, though, residents told us, this doesn't happen because of cost issues.

In Nottingham, the city council is trying a new approach with the aim of ensuring there are the student beds available, while keeping local residents on side.

Last year, the authority set up the Student Living Strategy, a collaborative approach which involves working closely with the city's two universities. It's early days, but the signs are encouraging with figures from StuRents suggesting the city is matching supply and demand.

As for the universities, they deny their institutions have become too big, or that there's a case for a cap on student numbers. But they acknowledge that they need to communicate better with local communities to understand their concerns.

Another important issue here is what students bring to our city centres. Post-pandemic, our cities have changed immeasurably, with many office workers now choosing to work some or all of the time at home.

As a result, many city centre shops and businesses rely heavily on student trade - some even argue that students are the lifeblood of our cities in the future. Even more important then, it's claimed, that we provide them with the accommodation they need.

There seems to be a gap here between perception and reality.

The burgeoning construction sites in our Midlands university towns and cities would suggest there's plenty of student accommodation to go round.

To the onlooker, it seems to be never-ending, turning some areas into student "ghettos".. But all the while, students are facing an ever greater challenge to find somewhere to live. Rents are increasing while the construction of purpose-built accommodation is barely keeping pace with the projected growth in student numbers.

It's a gap which may only be bridged when universities, developers and planners liaise more closely with local residents and ensure their concerns are heard.

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