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Not a criticism, but a genuine question which requires debate. At a time when the local higher education establishment has announced a downturn in student attendance resulting in job cuts, and budgetary problems. Are more Student flats required? Our city has had a swell of Student accommodation approvals recently with several large scale developments already underway. Is this a priority over permanent housing need in Dundee? When we are told that land resource is limited and regeneration is best, is a large number of student units the best use? How much income does the local authority gain from each student flat per annum? I.e. is there any council tax (or similar) and is this more lucrative than housing to the city coffers? Are there the same levvies applied to these developments as would be the case for new build housing? if not... why not? The pressure on local amenities and services caused by the population increase once these flats are occupied must surely be the same? Or is it simply the case, developers no longer make any return on housing due to the poor policies introduced over the last decade leading to potential housing land now being put to better use to generate a higher return? Interested to hear thoughts on the rapid rise of these student mega projects.
Plans to build student flats on the site of a fire-hit former Dundee furniture store could be approved next week. jmarchitects
Agree We have a lot of factors at play here The student accomodation market has been known to be saturated in Dundee for sometime - that’s why there was a presumption against building more in the city plan. There has since though been a very clear period post covid when demand materially outstripped supply However, that was largely one off caused by the perfect storm combo of Dundee benefiting when Australia was closed to foreign students exactly coinciding with SFC having temporarily removed the cap on numbers. That came at the same time as UK policies supporting tenants through covid led to many private student accomodation providers being burnt and removing themselves from the market The short term mismatch in supply and demand led DCC planners to question their original analysis Supply side now has several new student accomodation granted planning but not built The reduction in demand was predictable and that is clearly already playing out - evident from DU current budget challenges. DU itself has no student accommodation stock in its portfolio and had nothing to loose and everything to gain by lobbying for more higher quality student accomodation Investors who hold older student accomodation stock will loose out.
It will certainly tidy up the corner hopefully continue to breath new life into the city centre
David Hovell
3mo
I also believe that the amount of student accommodation in St Andrews has dropped dramatically due to rental flats now being used for Air BnB leading to students looking to Dundee for accommodation
Martyn Ward
3mo
This is potentially a commuter problem that has been experienced in other major cities. It’s cheaper to live in areas outside the place where people actually need to commute to whether that is work or study. The supply economics is the deciding factor. If the housing needs of the local population can compete with the economic need of the commuter group then a harmony will ensue. But where the inequality exists then the dominant wealth will prevail. It may not be right morally but economics trumps morality until government intervenes and do their job which is to provide an umbrella of social justice and support. This view may not be popular but is it wrong?
allymeek joinery
3mo
There bound to make a lot more on the hmo property for students than private lets or social housing government are also making it more expensive for people to invest in property it seems it’s never what’s best for the people but more what will make the most money for the establishment eg permits
Euan Pirie
2mo
Principal “gain” for Council will be non-domestic rates which are not due on affordable homes developments. Also anything that is agreed as s75 contribution. VAT treatment normally restricts flexibility to use PBSA as “holiday lets”. Like all things in life what is probably needed is proportionality - although personally id like to see “affordable” student homes as part of mixed tenure developments.
Ron Smith
2mo
Three major issues. 1. Students don’t pay council tax. They should, even at a reduced rate because they use our services/amenities. Let’s say there are 17,000 students paying £10 a week (2 pints!). That’s £8.8 Million pa and; 2. What happens to the properties when the students aren’t studying, which is a lot of the year. Their loss of £spending will decimate local traders businesses or; 3. If they envisage using 1,000’s of bed spaces as short-term holiday lets for up to 20 weeks of the year, which must be an economic necessity for the operators, how is that fair and reconciled against the need to support room occupancy and rates in local hotels and, the draconian STL licensing requirements that unfairly restrict a vibrant part of our economy. What then is the difference between STL and PBSA? 3. Why are these sites not earmarked for BTR inner-city family accommodation, if we have a housing crisis? Is it not our local authority’s duty to manage housing stock as a priority. It’s just like ‘out of town’ retail. Far too easy to grant consents to appear ‘progressive’ and for the PR without considering the dire consequences. We need a holistic view that takes account of the overall ‘good’, not bend towards big company pressures!
Colin Mclaughlin
3mo
Hi Eddie, rapid rise of student mega projects, due to recent contracts working in the Fountainbrige area of Edinburgh, educated in the going’s on of an area, Fountainbridge in Edinburgh is nothing but student mega projects, was also informed what it would cost per month if you were from a privileged background that could actually pay the monthly rent on these student accommodations,was informed that the monthly payments were in the region of £1200 pcm, due to General Data Protection Regulations, cannot devour anymore information on what I know🧐
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3moThe University is in a precarious position, and i've no doubt, the Council (who see the Uni as the city's crown jewel), are doing everything they can to help protect it. The irony is that the University's problems stem from overreaching on the number of foreign students (aka cash cows), and then demand dropped significantly. I wonder if the same will happen here with student housing?