Newcastle MP wants answers over Deakin's Yard 'safety concerns'

Adam Jogee MP, Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme, has called for urgent action and full accountability after confirmation that the newly built student accommodation at Deakin’s Yard will not open as planned.

On Tuesday (12 August), the High Court granted an interim injunction preventing the “unlawful occupation” of the building, following safety concerns and a suspected breach of building regulations identified by the Building Safety Regulator – part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Keele University will provide short-term housing for all those affected, but longer-term arrangements remain unclear.

Adam Jogee MP said:

"This news will come as a huge shock to the students who were expecting to move into Deakin’s Yard over the coming weeks – many of whom now face uncertainty over where they will live in the long term.

"It is utterly unacceptable that – in 2025 – a brand-new building can get to the point of opening with such serious safety concerns that the Building Safety Regulator has had to step in at the eleventh hour to protect lives. We must have answers from the developers, the contractors, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council as the planning authority, and all those involved in approving and signing off this project.

"Serious questions need answering about how this project was granted planning permission, the building control processes in place, and why the project was allowed to progress when safety concerns had already been raised. My constituents – and the students affected – deserve to know who is responsible and how this will be put right."

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has stated that Deakin’s Yard has no connection to the authority - and is a commercially-owned building.

Responding to news that an interim High Court injunction has been obtained by the Building Safety Regulator, part of the Health and Safety Executive, to prevent occupation of the building, Gill Heesom, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's Cabinet member for Community Safety and Wellbeing, said:

"We are aware of the situation at Deakin’s Yard and we are liaising with the Health & Safety Executive, local universities and other relevant organisations and agencies to support anyone who may be affected by this."

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