Plans for new 1,000-bed student accommodation approved, despite ‘high vacancy rates’ nearby

Plans for a new 1,000-bed student accommodation property in Westwood Business Park have been given the go-ahead, despite other accommodation in the area having “high vacancy rates”.

Units in the Mercia Business Village, located in Westwood Business Park, will be demolished to make space for the new accommodation.

Developer Skybridge Property says it will seek to rebuild and regenerate the underused site, which has many vacant properties or properties occupied on short-term leases.

The new development will consist of four main blocks and will offer 236 studio apartments and 770 cluster rooms.

Alongside the new accommodation, significant transport improvements will be delivered, including new cycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

A Coventry City Council report on the new plans acknowledged that 9,716 new bedrooms have been delivered within the city between 2019 and the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year

Several owners of the units which will be demolished as part of the plans have shown support for the redevelopment.

Skybridge has added that the development will respond to the growing demand for student housing near the University of Warwick.

However, the project was met with 11 objections, with those objecting arguing that there is a lack of demand for student accommodation and an “over-concentration of students” in the area.

A Coventry City Council report on the new plans acknowledged that 9,716 new bedrooms have been delivered within the city between 2019 and the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year.

The council also stated in the report that the “data and evidence provided by the applications indicate that there is scope for additional demand close to the University of Warwick.”

Bosses at Sherbourne Student Village, also in Coventry, have proposed to allow their building to be temporarily used to house both students and non-students due to ‘high vacancy rates’ in the block

However, despite the council and Skybridge highlighting potential for increased demand near the University, bosses at Sherbourne Student Village, also in Coventry, have proposed to allow their building to be temporarily used to house both students and non-students due to ‘high vacancy rates’ in the block.

Sherbourne Student Village, located a 15-minute walk from Coventry train station and close to a number of bus stops, suffers from a “continued and increasing vacancy rate which represents an entirely inefficient use of a sustainably located site”.

Under the proposals, the accommodation would house both students and non-students for a period of five years, before reverting back to housing solely students.

Second-year Law student at Warwick, Matthew, who will be living at The Oaks next year, wishes that there were more affordable student accommodation closer to campus.

[Living in Coventry or Leamington is] inconvenient, crowded, and discourages lots of students from attending early morning lectures

Matthew, second-year Law student

Matthew told The Boar that living options for Warwick students often involve moving to Coventry or Leamington, both of which require students to rely on bus transport to get to campus.

Living in Coventry or Leamington is “inconvenient, crowded, and discourages lots of students from attending early morning lectures”, Matthew said.

Despite concerns over an oversaturation of student rooms in the area, work on the new accommodation block at Westwood Business Park – the third in recent years – will start in the coming months.