Student Accommodation News (16/11/11)

Here you can find the latest UK student accommodation news headlines for the week ending the 16th November 2011:

Durham Student Flats Plans Altered

10th November 2011: New plans have been revealed for a block of student flats that were previously rejected. Edinburgh based development company New Connislow Limited had previously planned to build 132 new rooms in Durham, but have since come back with new plans for 112 rooms.

Many of the rooms would provide accommodation for international students attending Durham University, which is one of the top universities in the UK. However, residents are challenging the plans, arguing against the ‘studentification' of the town.

Whilst some residents want more purpose built student accommodation so that students move out of residential areas, others are worried about excessive building in the relatively small town. With a university that is regularly near the top in UK university ranking tables, as well as some of the top business universities in the UK, students could very easily dominate the rest of the area's population.

Unite Reveals Record Student Uptake

16th November 2011: Student accommodation giants Unite have revealed that 99% of its 41,000 rooms have been sold for the 2011/12 academic year. The group has over 130 properties throughout the UK, including student accommodation London, and Manchester student homes.

Such a high percentage is beyond what they expected and has helped them to record profits way in excess of the predicted. What's more, they expect the good times to continue next year despite the introduction of increased tuition fees. As one of the biggest providers of international student accommodation, there is also the worry of visa restrictions, but again, Unite do not expect this to have too much of an impact.

Another possible problem facing Unite is the recession leaving families with less money to spend on rent for their sons and daughters. With less money available at the moment, more and more students will be looking for jobs in London for students, or scholarships for international students to help cover their rent.

However, overall, Unite still expects that this time next year they wil still be providing just as many rooms to students from top London universities, top business schools in the UK and English courses in London.