UK & Ireland

The contracts have been signed and the University of Bristol is finally going to start constructing the thing it has been talking about for years - a new campus right next to Temple Meads station. Work will begin in earnest next month, years after the university knocked down the derelict old Royal Mail sorting office that was a 'welcome to Bristol' eyesore for anyone arriving in the city by train.

Plans for a 566-strong student accommodation scheme in Brighton – the highest element of which would reach 15 storeys – look set to be backed next week.

Plans have been revealed for the redevelopment of a prominent office building in Cardiff city centre into student accommodation and retail space.

Knight Frank and Lewis & Partners are seeking offers in excess of £13m for the freehold asset, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.98 per cent. Livin Cardiff comprises 136 student bedrooms arranged as 134 studios and two two-bedroom apartments.

Crown House at Southgate has stood vacant for years. The 11-storey office block dating back to the 1970s was once used by the Department for Work and Pensions and later became Huddersfield’s Jobcentre.

Ipswich Borough Council’s planning and development committee will soon review the application for a five-storey building with 26 flats located between Tye Road and Duke Street. The previous applications made by Norwich-based developers Jaevee for a taller block were refused.

The integration of Smart Studios – which the Nido Student platform has rebranded – marks the next phase of Round Hill Capital’s strategy for the PBSA scheme, following its acquisition of the business last year.

It now plans to develop a 444-room student accommodation scheme at the Harper Road and Borough High Street. It is the second developer in a week to switch plans for private flats over to student rooms in the Capital.

Singapore-based private equity real estate firm Q Investment Partners (QIP) announced that it has partnered with property group Soilbuild to launch a £200 million ($246 million) student housing platform in the UK.

University College Dublin (UCD) is to begin talks with landlords to rent accommodation for students who will be unable to get places in university-owned accommodation from next September.