£10m student accommodation development for central Newcastle

Plans have been unveiled for a £10m student flat development in central Newcastle.

The new proposals for land adjacent to the Discovery Museum at Blandford Square were submitted to Newcastle City Council earlier this week.

The £10m scheme, proposed by Yorkshire student accommodation developer Nixon Homes, will create almost 150 jobs during the two-year construction.

The proposals will see the development of 388 student bedrooms including a selection of studio flats, along with a small commercial unit on the ground floor facing Blandford Square.

The planning application is being handled by the Newcastle office of national planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP).

Ian Kettlewell, associate director at NLP, said: “The scheme will result in the creation of 145 jobs during construction and 15 to 20 spin off jobs, resulting in the generation of an additional £750,000 into the economy during construction.

“When complete it is estimated that the proposals will contribute £1.1m of annual expenditure associated with the growing student population within the city, in addition to the creation of approximately 10 full and part time jobs.”

The Blandford Square plan is the latest in a series of recent Tyneside student accommodation developments.

Almost 1,000 Northumbria University students will be housed at the new Trinity Square scheme in Gateshead.

Over 350 student apartments have been built at the new Downing Plaza development just across the road from Newcastle United’s St James’s Park Stadium.

Developer Danieli Holdings has completed a £6m scheme in Shieldfield, east of Newcastle city centre providing 105 flats for Newcastle University students.

These developments are helping free-up traditional student flats for families. Recent research has shown that hundreds of families have been forced to move out of Newcastle in the last few years due to a shortage of suitable accommodation.

Kettlewell added: “Through increasing the provision of purpose-built and price-competitive accommodation students will begin to move out of lower standard housing stock.

“This will in turn make them less attractive to private landlords who will need to either sell or rent the properties to a different profile of occupier.

“As such, the proposals will assist in easing the current pressures upon the Tyneside housing market through providing a greater range and choice of low cost housing for first time buyers within the city and more affordable family housing.”

The Blandford development has been designed to meet a BREEAM standard of “Very Good” and the proposals have been designed to reduce energy consumption and reduce waste.

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