A £40 million plan for the construction of new student accommodation in Leeds has been approved by planning chiefs, according to online business news site Bdaily.

The scheme led by the Watson Jones Group will comprise of three buildings with space for 320 students. Other plans involve the construction of key worker accommodation and 61 open market apartments on St. Johns Road and Belle Vue Road.

The construction is set to be built on the former police station depot and St. Michael’s College site where all existing buildings are planned to be demolished, except the college’s original 1908 structure which will be refurbished and incorporated into the key worker accommodation.

This plan follows the approval for the phase 2 completion of a tower block in Central Village accommodating 404 students and is to be completed in 2015. This is supporting evidence of a high demand in the need for more student accommodations in Leeds. Student housing organisation Unipol predicts that ‘for the 2015-2016 house hunting season there might be around +2,500 students in the accommodation market’.

Abla Klaa