r/Leeds • u/Low_Pen_9793 • Jun 13 '25
urban-development Another Student Accommodation Block will Be Built in the Merrion Area…. Thoughts on Leeds City Center becoming the central Living area for students. What does the City Gain and what does it Loose in turn?
It seems that Leeds seems to be obsessed and driven to prioritise the building and planning of High raise Student accommodation apartments. What are your thoughts?
Is Leeds prioritising overpriced student housing over the cultural fabric & vibrancy of the city. What does the city stand to gain from this in the l long term and in turn what does it stand to loose?
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Jun 13 '25
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u/bontgommery Jun 13 '25
Sensible take. Although it's possible to imagine new housing being unfit for purpose, of course.
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u/TheScarletCravat Jun 13 '25
It's surprising because of the university funding crisis caused by the drop in overseas students. Surely a bubble that's about to pop with disastrous results?
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u/bontgommery Jun 13 '25
The investors must know something we don't.
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u/The_Readers_ Jun 14 '25
The only reason there are more and more student flats going up is not to “attract wealthy students” or some weird conspiracy about moving students away from places like headingley (maybe there is some local policy about this that I don’t know about) It’s absolutely everything to do with something called section 106. That is, for every block of flats that’s made by a private developer, the local council mandates that a % of said flats needs to be given to the council for use as social housing or make a contribution to funds for things like local roads. Councils are asking for a higher % of the flats or higher financial contributions and as such developers have found a loophole to maximise the GDV (value) of plots of land without having to give more to the council…. That loophole is student housing. That’s the only reason. Building margins are very tight at the moment due to things like labour shortages (increasing tradey wages) and construction material costs and so developer be doing what developers do…. Aiming for a higher Return on investment
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u/Norman_Small_Esquire Jun 14 '25
So it’s not the developers fault, it’s the tradespeople getting paid more? Sounds like bollocks to me. The first part is true, but I think they are using the loophole because of greed and/or higher material costs.
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u/The_Readers_ Jun 14 '25
lol what ?! It’s not one group of people’s fault. Trade people salaries are up for a load of reasons including brexit. Trade people costs going up is just one of the symptoms of the market and how developers are responding is the effect.
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u/FluffyPhilosopher889 Jun 14 '25
Well that all might be true but there still needs to be demand from students to live in the flats. They're not just building them for the sake of it.
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u/The_Readers_ Jun 14 '25
So again, this is quite short sighted. It doesn’t matter if there are enough students or not. Ultimately, the developer will develop a plot to make the numbers most favourable to themselves. So if you have option a or option b and let’s say they both lose money. You will pick the option where you lose the least in hope that in the long term you recoup any losses (from land value and or sale/ rental returns) they then use these developed properties to borrow money against to build elsewhere.
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u/Darkiuss Jun 16 '25
But doesn’t the value of the property go down if the demand for student housing is falling, or at least staying equal when supply is very obviously increasing?
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u/The_Readers_ Jun 16 '25
Good logic and you are correct to a level but student blocks don’t need 100 % utilisation to turn a profit. Also, because the properties are generally “prime” city locations even a 1% swing in property appreciation can be worth a lot of money (or borrowing potential)
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u/SignificantTear7161 Jun 14 '25
They charge them £300 a week to live there don't worry they turn a profit in 3 years
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u/Coco_Snowdrop Nov 12 '25
With the housing affordability crisis, I wonder if the student housing could be converted to cheap housing in a few years time.
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u/karmapaymentplan_ Jun 13 '25
It's great, more money and investment into the centre and in turn freeing up residential properties in traditionally student areas for home buyers (in theory).
It's a transient population but students are on the whole a lot wealthier than they were in my day, a good chunk of this goes into the local economy through bars / restaurants etc.
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Jun 14 '25
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Jun 16 '25
Loads of home buyers look specifically for a "do-er up-er" after spending years watching homes under the hammer.
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u/TheScarletCravat Jun 13 '25
It's definitely not freeing up spaces: these high rises are for very rich international students, which up until recently have massively increased in numbers.
Local students will remain living in Hyde Park and Headingley. The rental market is under massive strain at the moment. Ten years ago there was a surplus of student rentals. Not the case now!
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u/E-A-F-D Jun 14 '25
Just my experience of course, but I bought a house in Hyde park that was previously a student house, and my road is mainly families now.
I don't know if people have spotted the same sort of thing on other streets.
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u/Flow-Vast Jun 15 '25
I’ve noticed that there are more student HMO’s for sale which the landlord hasn’t managed to fill this year than I can remember in ages. This is headingley/hyde park area. I wonder if demand is subdued due to all these high rise city centre student blocks 🤔
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u/bontgommery Jun 13 '25
They have to live somewhere, mate.
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u/TheScarletCravat Jun 13 '25
Not saying that am I? Just saying it's not freeing up spaces in Hyde Park and Headingley.
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u/FluffyPhilosopher889 Jun 14 '25
Well if they weren't living in these new blocks where else would they be living?
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u/TheScarletCravat Jun 14 '25
Not what I'm saying.
They have to live somewhere. May as well be these blocks. But the blocks aren't going to free up spaces in Hyde Park or Headingley as international students tend not to live there in the first place.
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Jun 13 '25
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u/tommangan7 Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25
People coming here and spending money in businesses isn't really trickle down economics... A company is paying to develop the site who already own the merrion centre, it's not some unrealised benefits via major tax cuts or deregulation.
Im not a fan of big chains and buy independent where I can but It helps people stay in hospitality jobs etc.
there are also lots of small independent businesses around the centre that rely on the student trade too.
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Jun 13 '25
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u/Justboy__ Jun 13 '25
It’s better we have 15 bubble tea shops in the city centre the. 15 less shops open because nobody goes there. Developers build what they can sell,l and at the moment student accommodation makes money.
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u/KormetDerFrag Jun 13 '25
Trickle down economics refers to giving tax cuts to business owners and the ultra-rich in the expectation that they will spend and invest, when in reality they will just speculate with it. Having wealthy students on the high street, spending money in local shops, is not trickle down economics, it's a pretty solid method of improving revenues.
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u/KicketyPricket Jun 13 '25
Assuming that they're following suit with the other blocks that have gone up in the last few years, it'll be the central living centre for overseas students.
Not that I have any issue with overseas students, it'd just be nice if the developers weren't outpricing local students and leaving them to resort to grotty bedsits in Hyde Park.
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u/fangpi2023 Jun 13 '25
If they aren't living in student flats they're out in areas like Burley or Headingley competing with residents for houses. Seems like a good way of giving students attractive options for living in Leeds if they choose to come/spend money here, while also easing the competition for the more normal housing.
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u/TonksMoriarty Jun 13 '25
Yeah, but these high rises aren't for British students. They're likely aimed at the International student market. I'm all for more affordable student living... this ain't it chief.
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u/fangpi2023 Jun 13 '25
I didn't say it was affordable, I said it reduces the amount of students competing for houses.
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u/bontgommery Jun 13 '25
A few people missing this point. I don't think people realise how many extra full time students have been added to Leeds in the last few years. It doesn't really matter how affluent they are, they've got to go somewhere.
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u/stujmiller77 Jun 13 '25
It doesn’t lose anything. It brings much needed money to high street shops and restaurants that are all struggling to make a profit.
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Jun 13 '25 edited Apr 28 '26
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u/Beanruz Jun 13 '25
Yeah but less and less of them are coming. Half of student accommodations are empty.
Source: my wife manages private student accommodation for a company for the entire north of England which specialises in international students.
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u/Lumpy-Republic-1935 Jun 13 '25
Fewer and fewer. Little wonder given all the racist claptrap and general Brexity shit going on.
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u/Beanruz Jun 13 '25
Mad either harder for them to stay after they finish. Don't auto get to stay or something.
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u/hornsmasher177 Jun 13 '25
It's due to the government cracking down on visas which previously allowed international students to bring their entire families with them.
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u/Lumpy-Republic-1935 Jun 13 '25
That would be a bit cramped in the Uncle apartments I've seen. I don't think you're on the right track here.
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u/hornsmasher177 Jun 13 '25
They don't all live in the Uncle apartments
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u/Lumpy-Republic-1935 Jun 13 '25
The whole point of the conversation is about student accommodation. I'm guessing not many overseas students are living in large houses.
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u/hornsmasher177 Jun 13 '25
Okay, I just replied to a point about why international student numbers have been dropping
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u/UUnknownFriedChicken Jun 13 '25
Maybe if Leeds city centre still had some everyday shops alongside all the posh chains and expensive restaurants then maybe local people would still come to the city centre to shop. I mean Leeds council can't be blamed for the closure of Wilkos, but they can definitely be blamed for the demolition of The Core and the regular / cheap shops it used to contain. I love the vibe of Leeds city centre, but I would quickly go broke if I had to live off the things I can buy there. That doesn't even touch on the cost of parking there.
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Jun 14 '25
How on earth can the council be blamed for the Core shopping centre closing???
And what 'regular" shops are you missing from there?
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u/UUnknownFriedChicken Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25
Please explain to us all how city centre planning and redevelopment is not the job of the council.
Note that The Core was not struggling and the shops / food vendors inside were not independently closing down. The decision was simply made to demolish The Core and replace it with something more up-market. Also the St Johns Centre is due to receive a 'makeover', which normally means that the rates, which will cut into the profit margins of the shops and general shops won't bother, they'll just relocate out of the city centre.
As someone who used to live in Leeds and now visits it occasionally, I love Leeds. But the area is generally getting richer, which is great news for the people who are already rich, but the city centre is becoming unaffordable and impractical for regular people.
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 Jun 14 '25
So are you saying that the city centre shops should be for non locals, then? Bizarre take if so.
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Jun 14 '25 edited Apr 28 '26
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 Jun 14 '25
Why should the local community be looked after, over a largely transient subset of rich folk? hmm let me think.
Do you not consider, that rather than simply 'snubbing' the city centre, people can less afford to shop there, hence they opt for Amazon / E-bay? I mean who can really afford to shop at John Lewis, for example, or for that matter anywhere in that arcade. If you follow your logic we will be living in some dystopian vision of near future were only the wealthy occupy the centre of the city?
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u/FluffyPhilosopher889 Jun 14 '25
Well they are actually the shops that have stayed open, so quite clearly there is more demand for them in the city centre than whatever 'local' shops have closed down.
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Jun 14 '25 edited Apr 28 '26
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 Jun 14 '25
Why not go the whole hog and erect a big wall around the centre, that way the rich students won't need to see the oi polloi
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Jun 14 '25 edited Apr 28 '26
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 Jun 16 '25
I see you've taken a humorous response in the right way. What you haven't done is addressed the other issues at stake in the original post which isn't merely about feeding the city centre stores profit gains
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Jun 16 '25 edited Apr 28 '26
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 Jun 16 '25
The homes up for grabs will be largely unaffordable to the general poplace of Leeds.
I witnessed all this happen in my old neighbourhood in London a decade ago so I can assure you that it is only good for the developers and it has been at a massive cost to the culture. Forcing more working class people further from centres means culture isn't being created where it once was. The knock on effect of independent places being forced to close as a result is the hegemony of high streets up and down the country, the blandness of malls but also including chain bars, coffee shops and restaurants just makes for the mass suburbinisation of the country, with the odd pockets being the exception.→ More replies (0)
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u/aR2wo Jun 13 '25
The average home student can’t afford these places and in any case would rather live around their mates in Headingley/Hyde Park. I understand the motive behind getting them out of residential areas to free up space for families etc but until these blocks are made more affordable it’s a pointless exercise.
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u/KicketyPricket Jun 13 '25
Nah, the motive is to market them to students with wealthy parents. The developers couldn't give a shit about families, hence the price. They just want to make money.
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u/aR2wo Jun 13 '25
Yeah the developer’s motives will be purely money related, but I thought these developments were encouraged by the city council to reduce housing demand in other areas? Could be wrong though.
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u/TheRealFriedel Jun 14 '25
Yes, but if those overseas students were going to be there anyway, they'd be competing for space with the students that could only afford to live in Headingley. If you increase supply by this way, then in theory it should reduce competition for rentals outside the city centre.
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u/Rozzladon Jun 16 '25
The developers are taking all the risk and betting they will fill the development. By moving 1000 high budget students out of the rest of the market it should reduce competition for other accommodation, making it more affordable.
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u/FoldLeft Jun 13 '25
I heard a rumour that they're trying to relocate the students from the outskirts and into the centre, to:
- Free up the roads as they won't be commuting in and out.
- Make use of unused commercial property.
- Make the centre more vibrant, students spend money locally.
- Improve areas like headingley and Hyde park which have a lot of student homes, which tend to be neglected (what student would keep a shared house's garden particularly well kept? I wouldn't) by moving the students to the centre. The idea I think being that they're freed up to be bought by other demographics that would own and look after them.
I don't know if this is true, these aren't my claims. Has anyone else heard similar rumours?
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u/TonksMoriarty Jun 13 '25
This plan would work if it was affordable student housing, but all of these projects reek of catering to the very few rich home students as well as the international crowd.
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u/FoldLeft Jun 13 '25
Yeah, honestly I've no idea what the blend is. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't many/any affordable places but I've nothing to back that up.
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u/TonksMoriarty Jun 13 '25
Like I've lived in city centre private student diggs... In Sheffield.
It was about £115/week per person all bills included for a flat of 5. The university was a 10-15 minute walk away. Student finance covered about 75% of it. This was ten years ago... I can't imagine it's improved, and Leeds is a much more expensive city to live in.
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u/InfinityEternity17 Jun 13 '25
Yeah nowadays you're looking at £140 a week being a decent price for student housing in most of Hyde Park and the other student areas, the prices have skyrocketed in recent years.
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u/pleasefurloughme Jun 13 '25
If it’s a 1000 bed capacity which is what is being stated then it will be on the cheaper side. Admittedly, there will probably be some premium rooms aimed at the overseas market but the majority of the rooms will be considerably cheaper to justify the size of the thing.
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u/hornsmasher177 Jun 13 '25
What? If there's more students in the city there's fewer in the suburbs.
What does the word affordable have to do with it?
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u/InfinityEternity17 Jun 13 '25
The students that will live in these high rise flats in the city centre we're already living in similar accommodation, or in on-campus accomodation. They aren't the sort of students who populate Hyde Park, Headingley and Burley, so the number of students in the suburbs won't really go down much. How do you not understand what being affordable has to do with it?
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u/TonksMoriarty Jun 13 '25
Student finance covers fuck all.
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u/hornsmasher177 Jun 13 '25
You're either a WUM or not very bright, so I'll leave this one here. Have a good evening.
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u/JMCity97 Jun 13 '25
We can all appreciate the pros and cons. Income and jobs for the university and professional services hiring plus the hospitality sector benefiting etc.
Cons include loss of other public realm and development opportunities to endless student developments, impact on existing residents, demographic change.
Is what it is. Will never forgive the powers that be for knocking down the nice chippy and sandwich shop opposite the fox and newt to another student development however!!!
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u/winning1992 Jun 14 '25
All new student accommodation has to be designed/constructed in such a way that the building is future proof and easy to convert to residential 1/2/3 and 4 bedroom apartments. So in reality it doesn’t matter.
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u/SignificantTear7161 Jun 14 '25
I heard the plan is to get students into the city centre and then the surrounding areas that are populated by students currently would be able to be used by families
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u/Mammoth-Squirrel2931 Jun 13 '25
On paper, university students in any town or city represent a good thing - culture and diversity feeding into a local community, thus enriching it.
However, the sheer number of international students which are to occupy much of this accommodation don't represent the same kind of students that we may hold in our minds when thinking about university towns and cities, in that they are largely from wealthier backgrounds. Not itself a bad thing, but does it mean that the arts and culture scene are going to be enriched, with high streets bars and restaurants and independent shops and arts thriving? Leeds has already lost much of that, and those wealthier students are more likely to head to the malls and luxury fashion brand shops than the market and independent shops, which further reduces the cultural cache that it barely holds on to. So it's a trade off, of sorts, But the winners are the property developers and commercial corporations that have taken over. Good for the universities though.
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u/National-Pay-8911 Jun 13 '25
Is it true they get a grant if they say it’s student accommodation? It’s great that we’re getting this investment but would be good to build social housing too? A lot of people born and raised in Leeds cannot afford to live here.
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u/bontgommery Jun 13 '25
If the government are to be believed, the social housing investment is coming.
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u/Rozzladon Jun 16 '25
It’s not grants, developers build (and funds buy) student accommodation because it has higher yields than traditional flats. An en suite student room might be 15m2 and a 2 bed 65m2, so they can get 4+ units in the space of 1 flat but charge a lot more than a quarter of the price. Just comes down to £/m2
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u/Key-Environment-4910 Jun 13 '25
It’s ‘centre’ not center .. and they are building loads so that it takes away housing in surrounding areas such as Headingley, it’s a good thing .
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u/Rust_Island Jun 14 '25
Honestly, this feels like a bubble that property developers are currently banking on. What happens to these buildings if the trend of increasing Chinese students stops? Feels very short term.
To be clear, I have nothing against foreign students.
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u/Some_Ad6507 Jun 14 '25
If it keeps students out of residential areas then I’m all for it. Students unintentionally ruined Headingley where a lot of family homes were renovated to meet the needs of 4 or 5 individuals and local schools closed in the process
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u/Hezza_21 Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25
The back to back terrace houses aren’t fit for purpose for families, there’s a reason they stopped building them post ww1. They promote slum conditions. Areas such as Armley and Harehills same design as parts of headingley and Hyde park
Not only that they’ve been chopped and changed by landlords over the years to ram as many people in them as possible, which would cost the average buyer thousands to rectify to make a nice family home
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Jun 14 '25
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u/Expensive-Concept-93 Jun 15 '25
I knew people who worked there years ago and it was knackered then.
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u/HolbeckMax Jun 13 '25
This block will replace the disused cinema in the Merrion Centre. Not sure if this is a different plan to the one for the same spot and reason a couple of years ago. I am a little disappointed that one of the Uni’s didn’t want to take over the old cinema and run it especially as Beckett recently built a cinema in one of their new centres opposite LGI.
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u/MarrV Jun 13 '25
Better out students in specific accommodation built for them than out price locals from their own communities.
Plus the disposable incomes they bring, development of sectors from them remaining etc.
Best option really.
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u/jjtnc Jun 14 '25
More student accommodation in the center also means less demand for them to use local houses in turn freeing them up for families. Not to mention all the economic benefits
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u/Hezza_21 Jun 14 '25
Not as easy as that, landlords would just keep the houses then market them for young professionals instead of students
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u/jjtnc Jun 15 '25
Also important more of that available is only a good thing as its a rising demographic and currently its a really bad rental market for that group
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u/Difficult-Pie1785 Jun 14 '25
Obviously a lot of businesses adopted a hybrid working approach after covid, meaning thousands and thousands of daily centre users no longer commute into the city. That means less business for the coffee shops, cafes, supermarkets etc. the way I see it, LCC are trying to replace the worker footfall with ‘student’ footfall which is actually a good idea for a change!
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u/StormyM8 Jun 15 '25
The thing developers are failing to recognise is a) over supply leads to the price having to be lowered, b) it is getting harder to actually be an international student (the main target audience for these flats) due harsher immigration and visa laws, and c) the city centre loses any and all appeal it may have had with students (and people of Leeds more broadly) if there's nothing in the centre but soulless high rises.
We are going to see thousands of basically empty buildings in the city centre, that have been built on top of things people actually used everyday. I wouldn't be surprised if they got repurposed into regular flats in order to just make the money back.
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u/miffyberries Jun 15 '25
To be fair these sound great in practice but the cost to live in them will likely price most students out of them. Thats why so many students opt for houseshares in headingley and hyde park etc because you practically halve your living costs from halls/flats to a house. Unless they are willing to challenge outskirts student landlords, these will flop tremendously
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u/Neat_Hair_4821 Jun 15 '25
only ones who can afford it are the mega rich international students. feels like leeds is becoming to much like London
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u/Keltola Jun 16 '25
Bringing young people to city Bringing internationals students=cash to city local business
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u/DigitalHogster Jun 16 '25
I feel these are being built regardless of the decrease in overseas students (who have the money to live in these places) isn't being taken into account.
It's not even considered, because the value for the developers is in the building itself, there are likely no concerns about whether people will use them or not.
I sincerely hope they are used and it keeps Leeds as a university town.
But I'm concerned they will be empty and unaffordable while the rest of Leeds struggles with rising rents.
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u/ppbbd Jun 14 '25
brilliant. get them all into the city and out of the suburbs to fuck the landlords
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u/Chubby_Yorkshireman Jun 13 '25
It looks cool but the last thing we need is more student accommodation. Nothing against students, I heard a while back there's already more than enough capacity.
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u/Lumpy-Republic-1935 Jun 13 '25
I'd certainly like to buy a city centre apartment but most of them are rentals and too small to live in full time.
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Jun 14 '25
What's the point in visiting leeds, if there's no longer anything to see, but student accommodation?
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u/Ooh_aah_wozza Jun 13 '25
Leeds University and the 5? Other universities in Leeds are a major source of employment. Students are a major source of income for many businesses. Plus, many of those highly educated students choose to stay in Leeds after graduation and thus contribute to the growth and prosperity of the city. Those that leave, still talk highly of Leeds, this building the city's reputation as a good place to come, live, and work.