Where thousands of Nottingham student flats are still set to be built despite demand ‘cooling’

Thousands of new Nottingham student flats are set to be created over the coming years in the city despite the council leader recently confirming that demand was “cooling”. Nottingham City Council is reporting a record number of vacant flats in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) across the city.

The Labour-run authority has long championed PBSA as a way of getting more students out of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) to ease pressure on Nottingham’s housing market. Despite the record number of vacancies and a report suggesting that student numbers in recent years will not reach the amount of supply, the situation has been described as an “opportunity” for Nottingham.

Paul Seddon, the director of transport and planning at Nottingham City Council, said: “There are some conversations going on with some of the providers of some of the schemes, not a huge number, I just think it’s those that perhaps lend themselves more readily to a conversion to a different type of living, or they’re not as well located within the city. All of that is positive because that just adds to the housing stock that we’ve got.”

Experts say the intention has always been to “get ahead” of student demand to ease housing market pressure and improve the quality of PBSA. A Nottingham City Council map shows all the PBSA schemes set to be delivered in the area over the coming years.

Although thousands of extra bed spaces are still in the pipeline, Mr Seddon cautioned that some proposals may not make it. The chief planner said: “The schemes that are in the pipeline currently – they’re under contract, they’re under construction, they’ve fixed their prices, they’ve got the funding – will continue to completion.

“I think there will be probably quite a bit of due diligence going on for those schemes that are yet to press the button on a construction contract. They might have planning permission, they might look strong in terms of the business case, but I think those will have to be tested more by those funders and those developers.” Below are some of the biggest PBSA projects set to be delivered in Nottingham over the coming years, according to the city council’s map.

Alfreton Road

The biggest PBSA scheme set to be delivered in the coming years is a block on Alfreton Road that will provide 790 bed spaces. The site was previously home to the Forest Mill office building, which had become an eyesore for local residents and businesses after standing half-demolished for years.

The new student accommodation is set to include 280 studio flats and 510 cluster flats. The scheme is set to be ready in time for the academic year starting in September 2025.

Bendigo Building

The Bendigo Building is located on the corner of Bath Street and Brook Street. The former Royal Mail sorting office has now been demolished and work continues at pace on a new 13-storey student accommodation block set to deliver nearly 700 bed spaces.

The former Bendigo Building stood vacant for 20 years after Royal Mail vacated the premises. The building was named after the famous 19th-century boxer William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson and the new student accommodation block is again set to be ready by September 2025.

Norton Street

The Student Lodge already operates several PBSA schemes in the Radford and Hyson Green area and its next project is focused on a disused car park off Norton Street. The land was once occupied by John Player’s Castle Tobacco factory, but the company relocated its business to the Horizon Factory in Lenton in the 1970s.

The land is now set to be home to 587 bed spaces and will include a private park for the residents of the proposed accommodation, as well as for those living in neighbouring Radford House, Adam and Burton House and Carlton House. The scheme is set to be ready by the academic year starting in September 2027.

Island Quarter

A second student accommodation block is set to be built at The Island Quarter, containing nearly 400 bed spaces, after an initial 693-space one opened. A spokesperson from Conygar, the developer behind The Island Quarter, previously said on the news of demand for accommodation cooling: “Conygar remains fully confident in market demand for PBSA in Nottingham and in the long-term value of providing this within the masterplan for The Island Quarter, aligning with the city’s growth of housing provision.

“We are continuing to work closely with Nottingham City Council and both universities in the city to ensure our student accommodation provision responds to local needs. We already have strong demand for the upcoming academic year for our first 693-beds at Winfield Court.”