UK & Ireland

Allies and Morrison have completed a new student housing cluster at Hinsley Lane, Cambridge, delivering 39 townhouses with 245 rooms commissioned by St John’s College for multiple Cambridge colleges, enhancing the city’s student accommodation capacity.

Bath and North East Somerset Council is reviewing three major planning applications proposing over 500 new homes, including 103 student flats, 170 mixed homes in Timsbury, and 272 co-living units in Bath, reflecting increased government housing targets and local development pressures.

Liverpool developer Downing has submitted plans to transform Bristol’s 1960s NCP multi-storey car park on Nelson Street into a 12-storey student accommodation building with 331 bedrooms, ground-floor commercial space, and public realm improvements aimed at revitalising Broadmead.

London investors Patron Capital Advisers LLP and Curation Capital have acquired Alma Place, a 393-unit student accommodation scheme near Belfast city centre, following its receivership in late 2024.

MCR Property Group has acquired Parham Student Village in Canterbury, adding 606 student bedrooms across nine blocks to its PBSA portfolio, positioning the company as one of the city’s largest student accommodation providers through a single scheme.

Central London student accommodation provider urbanest has appointed Gavin de Klerk as the company’s new head of development.

Unite Group completed the acquisition of Empiric Student Property on 28 January, adding the Hello Student brand and all Empiric assets to its portfolio.

Bowmer + Kirkland has been appointed main contractor for the £274 million Castle Leazes student accommodation redevelopment in Newcastle, replacing a 1,250-bed 1960s complex with 2,009 modern, sustainable rooms for Unite Students and Newcastle University.

The University of Kent has cancelled its £51 million plan to build a 1,000-bed student accommodation block and sports centre on its Canterbury campus, citing changing student needs, affordability concerns, and rising construction costs since planning permission was granted in 2023.

The new six-storey student accommodation will provide a total of 172 bedrooms comprising of 155 bed spaces shared across 22 cluster flats with each flat containing shared kitchen and lounge facilities.