Plans emerge for 1,585-bed Salford student accommodation
Campus Living Villages wants to knock down two 15-storey blocks built in the 1960s and build a pair of 28-storey towers off Belvedere Road in Pendleton.
Early-stage proposals to demolish the Eddie Coleman Court and John Lester Court student blocks and more than double the scheme’s density to 1,585 units have been submitted to Salford City Council.
Campus Living Villages, which acquired the 2.2-acre site in 2009 and last year set about working up plans for its redevelopment.
The scheme unveiled last year proposed retaining the existing buildings and extending them upwards. A new-build 24-storey tower was also proposed. This development would have increased the number of student beds on the site from 700 to 1,400.
However, those plans were ripped up following “negative feedback”, according to a planning statement by consultancy WSP.
The revised proposals would see the existing buildings flattened. They are described by WSP as “dated and unable to provide the quality of accommodation expected by students”.
The first of two 28-storey towers built in their stead would comprise 810 student bedrooms and be located on the eastern portion of the site. The second, to the west, would house up to 675 apartments. A third, six-storey building would feature another 100 flats.
The proposed development has been designed to “revitalise the site and provide an enhanced and improved offering of much-needed student bedrooms for the University of Salford,” according to WSP.
Sheffield-based Hadwell Cawkwell Davidson is the architect for the scheme. The development is located close to Salford Shopping Centre and Donard Affordable Homes’ plans for Albion Court, the 261-home redevelopment of the Buzz Bingo site on the opposite side of Belvedere Road.
To learn more, search for reference number OTH/2024/0960 on Salford City Council’s planning portal.
1500+ non paying council tax residents for the people of Salford to carry.
By Leo
Just how much
tax are all the overseas owners of luxury property in Manchester and Salford going to pay?.
By Anonymous
What about elderly accomodation and homes for the homeless,
By Anonymous
Please don’t give salford more student housing.the shops are already disappearing. The students do not pay council tax . Salford has always been family area .build houses that families in the area can afford .and places to look after the elderly .seen as you knocked the old people’s homes down for a libary and a charity shop.we don’t have enough disabled homes in salford.
By E Hendstock
I think some of the current comments seem to forget the land is currently students and a private company, not the council, wants to build up, instead of out? How can people not see that as a better solution than knocking them down?
Students need places to live. They themselves may not pay the CT but the university pays “business rates” for that land which is effectively a form of CT. Students contribute to the local economy too. If they don’t build more halls, more houses will be converted into HMOs. What do you hate less? Getting rid of the uni isn’t an option so that demand for halls is there.
And regarding the “what about elderly and homeless?” As the council. This isn’t the council building these blocks. It’s the current owners. They aren’t suddenly going to swap from a guaranteed income from students to hoping the council support them.
NIMBYs showing their incapability of reading or considering the wider problem.
By So confused
Agree with last comment – there is a huge shortage of accommodation for students who are currently taking up all the houses, the university is expanding, the population is growing and more people are going to university so where do you want these people to live? The owners will pay taxes on the build will employ local people will also have to make a payment to the council to support local redevelopment which will not be insignificant and the fact that local council and government have not sorted out housing is not this company’s fault. The existing flats are an eyesore, it is already full of students, Salford is a great City, so lets just hope the design is a good one and can add value to the area.
By Also confused
So Confused – you are totally correct. This proposal has no effect housing for local families, although both blocks were once council. Other comments regarding the lack of affordable housing for Salford residents is absolutely dire, the council definitely have questions to answer about agreeing to private investment without any fees towards affordable housing.
By Bernard Fender
They need to redevelop the shopping centre. It needs a substantial face lift.
By John
When will Salford Council start building places for social housing, the two apartment blocks being built near McDonald’s are for students as well.
By Mike Allcock