Nottingham's Student accommodation plans facing criticism
The city council says its approach has helped avoid housing shortages faced by other student cities
Dozens of student accommodation developments have been approved throughout 2025 – but a select few have proven particularly contentious for an array of reasons.
Nottingham City Council says it has managed to avoid crises experienced in other student cities, such as Bristol and Durham, having had a pipeline of just enough purpose-built accommodation to keep up with demand.
Paul Seddon, the director of planning at the authority, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the impact on the housing market in the city “would have been extreme” if enough student beds weren’t built.
The city had the largest development pipeline of purpose-built student accommodation outside London, and the authority says this is already paying dividends.
There has been a 10 percent reduction in on-street student accommodation over the last four years, which equates to roughly 700 properties being returned to the residential market.
Rents for the student blocks have also started to return to levels not seen since 2021/22.
According to the council’s leader, Cllr Neghat Khan, demand for student beds is now cooling. Vacancy rates have hit the highest number in a decade, at 11 percent.
However Mr Seddon said the goal was to “get ahead” of demand, and that the cooling presents an opportunity to increase the quality of accommodation and continue to bring rent prices down, with the market monopoly now improving.
As such, the authority’s officers believe the student accommodation strategy must carry on.
Yet, the strategy has put councillors in a “difficult” position in planning committee meetings.
Here are four contentious developments from the year past.
Magdala Road and Mansfield Road, Mapperley Park – 113 beds
A 113-bed student apartment block will be built on the corner of Magdala Road and Mansfield Road, where a two-storey car park serving the Mercure Hotel currently stands.
City councillors approved the plans, tabled by Proark and EjendomsInvest, at a planning committee meeting on October 22.
Councillors were told to “hang your heads in shame” after approving the plans despite a raft of objections.
The plans for the block were first revealed two years ago, but the developer reduced the number of bed spaces from 163 to 113.
Despite the changes the Nottingham Civic Society says the scheme remained “too large, bulky, and architecturally out of character”, and 63 residents objected to the proposals, describing them as “ludicrous”.
Mr Seddon said during the meeting: “I recognise this is difficult decision-making at times but your policy is starting to work.
“It has taken a while but it is starting to work. If you hadn’t had that brave decision-making, the housing market would not be this price and provision would have been even harder.”
Castle Boulevard, The Park estate – 137 beds
Applicant David Pownall’s plans for 137 beds were approved at a meeting on November 19.
The meeting was attended by a significant number of Park Estate residents and local politicians, who were concerned the “monolith” building would have an adverse impact on two conservation areas.
The Park estate is a private residential area that is noted for its Victorian architecture and gas lamps.
Plans for the site, which sits inside the canal conservation area and next to The Park conservation area, had already been deferred at September’s planning committee after councillors had asked for design changes.
The new block will be sandwiched between Castle Boulevard to the south and Fishpond Drive to the north.
Residents living in an existing block in Fishpond Drive are now concerned they will be shrouded in “complete darkness” by the development.
However, council officers said a rejection would be “challenging” to defend at appeal at the plans were given the green light.
Rick Street, Nottingham city – 247 beds
PMI Developments and Harcourt Land and Development were given permission to build a 247-bed student apartment building behind near to the Victoria Centre on April 23.
The site was home to a tyre and car product shop between Rick Street and Howard Street.
The plans were first submitted in April 2022, but the application faced several delays while changes were made.
Original plans proposed an apartment block up to 16 storeys high, featuring 401 students beds.
Not all schemes have proven contentious due to objections, but financial reasons have been a cause for concern, too.
While the scheme received some objections, councillors criticised the lack of community cash to improve infrastructure in the local area.
Councils typically grant planning permission to developers on the proviso they contribute financially to affordable housing, local education, employment, and infrastructure opportunities in a bid to reduce the impact of a scheme.
This is known as a Section 106 contribution.
However more and more developers are saying their schemes would not be viable in providing these contributions, largely due to increasing construction costs.
The proposed development would have been expected to provide a contribution of £947,847 towards improvements in the local area, however an independent assessor concluded the scheme would not be financially viable if the developer had to pay.
Under current legislation, it is considered reasonable for developers to make between 15 to 20 per cent in profit on a scheme.
If a viability assessment deems this margin not achievable, the developer does not have to provide any money under a Section 106 agreement.
Cllr Sam Lux (Lab) said: “It just doesn’t feel right there won’t be any compensation for the extra pressure that the development will create.
“We’ve discussed this at length in the past and it feels with the policy we have at the moment our hands are tied and we can’t object on the grounds of this.”
Old police headquarters and central fire station, Shakespeare Street – 610 beds
The old police headquarters and central fire station, fronting Shakespeare Street in the city centre, will be converted into student accommodation under a plan that was approved on December 17.
While the current plans have been generally praised, the initial proposals to demolish the historic 1930s police and fire station building came under intense fire.
Initial plans were scrapped after the building was given Grade-II listed protected status in 2023 – a matter of days before they were expected to be approved by city councillors.
An appeal against the listing failed, sending the developers back to the drawing board.
Under the new plans the police HQ and fire station will be retained and converted into student accommodation, and this will be complemented by a new, 18-storey tower block and a public food hall.
Vita Group is behind the new scheme, which already has examples of its work near to Nottingham Railway Station.
The development will create a total of 610 student bed spaces.
The original plans had drawn intense criticism from the Nottingham Civic Society.
However speaking on the new plans, Ian Wells, vice-chair and treasurer of the Civic Society, said: “It was built at a time of great civic building in the 1930s.
“It is one of the high points of our culture, so it is good that it’s going to have a future after all.”