Bristol University students living in hotels after new halls building delayed

Hundreds of students at Bristol University are being housed in hotels after the opening of a new accommodation block was delayed.

Developers building 21 St Thomas Street in the city centre say the project’s completion has been pushed back by “unexpected delays”.

It is now not expected to open for at least another three weeks, affecting around 350 students.

The university has apologised to students and placed them in alternative accommodation - including hotels.

‘We are disappointed this has happened’

“We have been informed by the developers of new student accommodation at 21 St Thomas Street that it will not be ready to open for the start of term due to unexpected delays,” a university spokesperson said.

“During the summer, they told us they were hopeful the building would be completed on time but last week they confirmed that would not be possible and we were looking at a delay of up to three weeks.

“St Thomas Street is being developed, built and managed by a third party accommodation provider, with the University taking a lease for the bedrooms once the build is complete. We are working closely with the provider to push the developers to get the property ready as soon as possible to minimise the impact on our students.

“Affected students have been contacted with an offer to move temporarily into hotel rooms or alternative university accommodation where they will still have access to the range of welcome events and pastoral support available to all students in University-allocated accommodation.

“Details on the hotel provision, the cost of which will be met by the developers, is being finalised and will be communicated to students later today. Breakfast, evening meal and wi-fi will be included as will access to a laundry service. 

“We will be block-booking to ensure affected students are housed together, where possible, based on their existing St Thomas Street flat allocation.”