New student apartments to be built in Kenilworth

Planning permission has been granted to build more than 100 student apartments in Kenilworth, which will hopefully be ready in time for students in the 2019 academic year.

As well as 105 student apartments, the new development will also be home to five new retail units for the town.

The development will be an expansion of the existing Talisman Shopping Centre, already busy with a wide range of retailers such as WHSmith, Boots and Costa, along with independent small stores.

The project, which has recently been approved by Warwick District Council, will cost around £10 million.

A computer-generated image, (CGI), of how the new development will look from the outside has also been produced. This shows the planned retail units at ground floor level with the student flats above.

Developers Discovery Properties, in collaboration with Cobalt Estates, are expected to develop on the north side of the shopping centre. The area which they are hoping to build on is currently used as a temporary car park.

It is unlikely that the project will begin for a while though, which developers say is because of “delays during the planning process.” It had been hoped that the development would be finished for the start of the 2018 academic year, but the completion is now set to be in 2019.

The Chief Executive of Discovery Properties, Hugo Hawkings, commented: “We are delighted to have been granted planning consent to continue our investment in the development of Talisman.

“Developing the north side of the centre has been an important part of our long-term vision for Talisman and will bring multiple benefits to Kenilworth, including new retailers, jobs and wealth to the town and the surrounding area.”

The announcement of this new development comes shortly after various other projects for student housing have been announced for Coventry, Kenilworth and the surrounding area recently.