As the student population grows the need for further student property developments increases. Ever more so, local communities are objecting to planning permission for new student accommodation developments and local councils are forever trying to balance out the needs of local people against the needs of growing universities.
One answer that is currently under-utilised is developing student housing projects on brownfield sites. Many university towns and cities have a rich but waning industrial history. Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, London, Bristol and Newcastle are just some of numerous examples of cities where heavy industry once played a major role in the economic and architectural make-up of the landscape. In recent decades this kind of industry has declined significantly, leaving numerous brownfield sites sitting empty, often in fantastic locations within the city limits.
So how easy is it for developers to develop on brownfield or brownbelt land? A lot easier than it used to be. The UK government put into place legislation in 2015 to make it easier to develop on brownfield land, hoping to increase economic activity and encourage development of wasteland and old industrial sites.
When all the legislation is finalised, a new zonal system will be in place, which will mean that planning permission for developments on brownfield sites in certain areas will be automatically granted. Developments that include a residential element to them will be viewed particularly favourably, which opens up the possibility of mixed residential complexes in cities up and down the country, helping to ease the housing crisis whilst meeting demand for student accommodation places. Business secretary Sajid Javid stated at the time that “if a local council fails to produce a suitable local plan, we’ll have it done for them.”
Since that announcement, plans have been put it place to devolve more power to the Mayor of London and the Mayor of Manchester, which may also be extended to newly created mayorships like the proposed Mayor for the Sheffield City region, taking in all of South Yorkshire and bits of Derbyshire. The powers will include a much stronger say on local planning and the development of brownfield sites.
Stewart Basely of the Home Builders Federation welcomed the move at the time. He said “The lack of developable land and delays in – and cost of – the planning system are the biggest barrier to the country building the homes it needs. If the industry is to increase supply to closer to the level needed we need more land to come through the system more quickly.
Speeding up the rate at which planning applications on previously developed land are processed and closing the gap between central government ambition and local authority performance is key.”
With things seemingly moving in the right direction, it is important that student property developers and investors don’t miss out and work with local authorities, mayors and central government to build modern developments and student accommodation projects on brownfield sites up and down the country.