More than 16,000 student beds in pipeline for Glasgow

Glasgow Times

17 hours ago

Research has found that while there are around 20,000 purpose-built beds, more are needed to accommodate the number of students, with a shortfall of roughly 6000.
A council official said there would be a 'significant risk of oversupply' if the whole pipeline was built even 'accounting for ongoing growth in students attending Glasgow institutions'.
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But he said many planning consents are 'not translating into schemes being implemented' due to several factors, including the 'availability of development finance'.
In an update to councillors, he said planners' principal focus when assessing applications is 'around the concentration of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), particularly around the city centre where there has been a high volume of cases submitted and approved'.
It is now likely that 'assessments will start to conclude that some areas have reached a threshold for PBSA development', he added.
The official told the city's housing committee that there is 'no hard and fast rule that says what a particular threshold is'.
But he added: 'We are seeing areas where up to 40% and above of a population within a 400 metre radius would be people living in PBSA. I think that is fair to say is getting towards a level that is something that officers and maybe elected members may want to resist as well.
'Every case must be considered on its own merits, but we have seen an increase in the number of cases and I think we are getting to a stage where we may have to make decisions that consider that the concentration is actually too high.'
Proposed student housing, St George's Road(Image: Newsquest) Proposed student housing, India Street (Image: Supplied)
Proposed student housing, Central Quay (Image: Unite)
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Guidance introduced in 2021 identified two areas — Townhead/Cowcaddens and Yorkhill/Partick — where further PBSA 'would be resisted'.
A council audit in January this year found around half of the existing managed student accommodation was located in these areas of overconcentration (9708), but very few of the beds in the pipeline are (111).
Since 2017, developers have been required to show student accommodation schemes can be 'adapted to alternative uses should demand reduce'. Applicants are also expected to demonstrate that there is a demand for accommodation.
And, the official said, planners are now giving 'weight to cases that are able to introduce some offer of affordability'. They are also supportive of plans to repurpose an existing building.
Figures for 2023/24 revealed there were 87,215 students in Glasgow, down from a peak of 92,430 in 2021/22, but still around 10,000 higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The council audit showed there are 20,218 beds across 72 purpose-built sites, with around half of the supply in the city centre.
Around 65% of the proposed beds in the development pipeline would be in the city centre. Over 2000 of the 16,000 are in construction, while more than 4000 have been granted permission but work has not begun, the official said.
A UK collaborative centre for housing report in September last year calculated that, for the 2022/23 academic year, there was a shortfall of 6093 beds to accommodate the then 90,030 students at Glasgow universities.
An evidence report, prepared ahead of the creation of a new city development plan, found future policy should 'reflect on student concerns about affordability' and 'recognise a clear student preference for on-campus accommodation'.
A council report added work to monitor supply and demand continues with the universities and accommodation providers, and will feed into forthcoming planning policy.