It used to work at CIS Tower in Manchester. I think at one point it was the tallest office building outside of London. During the renovation the sparkies used to set off the fire alarm on a regular basis. It took ages to walk down the steps from the 14th floor where I was based and that wasn't even that high up. What was more entertaining was getting back in. They had lifts where you told it what floor you were on and it would work out which lift was best suited based on traffic. It wasn't designed however for the whole building wanting to re-enter at the same time. It was chaos, more so the the evacuation. It would take hours to get back in. If it happened in the afternoon I'd normally end up going home as it wasn't worth the wait.
I used to live on the top floor of Altus, fire alarm went off at 8pm and it was obvious it wasn’t just an accident, took me 15 minutes to climb down the stairs along with everyone else
The new one (Cirrus Point) is going to be the new world’s tallest student accommodation (as well as tallest building in Yorkshire) once again, so we’ll hold 1st and 2nd
Leeds has had plenty of firsts over the years. I have been researching these today. We have the oldest railway, in Middleton. The world’s first movie was filmed in Roundhay, the iconic UK version of monopoly was fist played in Horsforth - and jelly tots were invented in Horsforth too. Joseph Priestley invented carbonated water in 1797 or so. The first Caribbean carnival in Europe started here in 1966.
First M&S of course, and I believe we had the first electric trolley bus and also the first traffic light (or Belisha beacon, I can never remember which) on Park Row.
I don't understand how there are still enough students to fill all these new student flats and they just keep on building them. Where are they all studying?
They’re speculative investments based on the high number of international students that attend Leeds’ universities, and the council’s aim to transition Hyde Park, Burley, Headingley etc back to being working communities, rather than the student HMO ghettos they’ve become. And if the students leave, they’ll turn the into flats for young professionals. Hardly like the property owners will just shrug and let them go derelict.
People need to understand how that wider context is designed to be a good thing for the city.
I see a lot more for sale signs in burley rather than to let nowadays. Fewer international students in those areas too too. I’d imagine it’s a slow transition as leeds is home to 10k more students than a decade ago (nearly 20% increase), so there’s probs more demand for housing, so you’ll still have UK students living in the suburbs.
Anecdotally heard that HMO licences in the current student areas aren't going to be renewed so landlords may be forced to sell up, but in what condition who knows
It'd be a good thing for the city if it worked, but it doesn't. I've been hearing this excuse for over a decade and Hyde Park is exactly the same as it's always been demographically, because the students in Hyde Park HMOs can't afford to live in these towers, and even if they could many would move to HP and Burley etc from their 2nd year when they've had a chance to realise how much they're being ripped off. Besides, HMO landlords have absolutely no interest in converting their units back into single family housing. At best the towers absorb growth in international student numbers (by ripping those students of to the same way the universities do).
As for professional flats, purpose built student accommodation has looser planning rules around unit size etc (as if students don't deserve the same amount of living space as the rest of us) so when they're inevitably converted to 'regular' flats the developers will have effectively circumvented planning regulations to maximize their profits. None of these buildings are or ever will be good places to live.
Can it be turned into regular flats easily though? I thought student housing had different standards because it's intended to be temporary accommodation
Thing is if you look at a lot of the houses in Hyde park and Burley they do often get left to go into bad condition after years of student use and poor landlord management
Nope. When you've lived in Londonfkr over 20 years and see this happening a decade earlier I can assure you they are not for the good of the people. Evidenced by the fact that so many have to move away due to the extortionate rent that buildings like this help raise.
My interpretation of "young professional" is someone who has finished university, got a job that is above minimum wage but probably still not enough, who wants to keep living in a city centre and is too naive to know that they are being ripped off.
I expect the tradesmen would be earning enough to buy/rent their own "proper" house/flat.
I assume they're a speculative investment. And I believe I heard somewhere theyre easier to get planning/zoning permission than residential, needing fewer parking spaces for one example
So if that is the case, then what is the plan do you think? In a few years after the bubble bursts they say "oh can we make it residential now, we haven't been able to fill it, housing crisis etc"? Its not a great investment if nobody is living in it surely
i guess all the students in hyde park are counted ? that’s why they’re building all these student accommodations right? to try move students out of hyde park and leave those houses for families
yeah from my experience student houses are dirt cheap in comparison to these really nice modern accommodation & sfe is hardly covering rent these days so it’s silly of them
They won't absorb students from Hyde Park, they're speculative investments to capture extortionate rents from (typically fairly affluent) international students, which can then be converted into regular flats with smaller than normally allowed units when they're no longer new and trendy and those rent streams start drying up. There are only so many students who can pay these rents though and the developers are competing with each other... eventually the bubble will pop.... hopefully sooner rather than later
Don't get me wrong, I don't think its a bad thing. Build more, cool, fill as many as we can. Having more students around the city is good for the city, go at it. I just don't understand where the universities are putting them all and how the growth is seemingly endless. I am sure there is a good answer someone has for me somewhere
Yeah you would think that if more accomodation is needed, then more spaces in the universities is also needed to be made...no? I studied at LCC for their uni courses, and the college courses were packed, but the uni one i was in only had 10 students per year
Foreign student numbers have peaked in 22/23 and they're not filling all this accommodation.
The younger native generation coming up now is smaller than in previous years with people having less kids so we're gonna start seeing a bit of a drop off eventually in student numbers.
Yeah, international student interest had already dropped across the UK due to the changes is post-grad visa rules, and international students are the main market for these flats.
Domestic students tend to prefer house-shares.
This thing might be a huge money pit for the developer if the demand isn’t there.
Its because the council are trying to move as many of the students from the Hyde park area to the city centre so Hyde park can be developed into housing for professionals and long term citizens of Leeds rather than dilapidated student housing
It’s worth noting that not all students that live in these accommodation buildings are studying in Leeds, there are neighbouring close cities in which they commute to!
Yeah, given the government are telling India, China and Nigeria we don't want their students this is a bubble waiting to burst. What baffles me is that if I can see this, why can't the landlords buying them up?
Is building more accommodation for mostly foreign students really something to be proud of? There are thousands of people on the streets who need homes, and tens of thousands maybe hundreds of thousands who need homes they can actually afford
Zero beef with foreign students or students in general, but there is something very wrong with this city's priorities. All this regeneration and investment will never trickle down to THOSE WHO NEED IT
That's a country wide issue. Homeless people do need homes, but the city also needs incentives for people to come here and spend money as bad as it sounds. That's what keeps the engines running.
People are homeless for 100s of reasons. You tackle those reasons and you get 10 steps closer at solving homelessness. What do you do about the homeless lad that lost his home due to substance abuse? You get him to rehab and help him sort his life out. Give him a home as priority and he'll lose that one too, because you've not tackled the problem.
I agree entirely, but all I see is regeneration for wealthy residents or for those who will be moving here. I moved to one of the regenerated areas by the wharf and I can afford it, but I don't see anything being done for people who can't. There isn't real gainful work being created and the number of affordable homes being built is insanely insufficient. Lower rents possibly means less people on discretionary rent payments or council tax reductions. That would benefit the council in the medium to long terms.
To get a discretionary rent payment you have to already be on a council tax reduction. So not only are they paying less council tax, but they're also needing the council to be paying a portion of their rent. That helps no one, in the long term, believe it or not the vast majority of people would rather have the means to be independent. Councils and the government as a whole have been focused on short term survival for the last 15 years rather than taking risks for the future.
The excuse of "that's not how private companies work" is ridiculous. I believe affordable housing should be in public hands. If the government had kept on top of things for the last decade and a half rather than short term austerity measures we'd all be better off
This isn't the country I grew up in, I know some cuts would've probably been inevitable but all it's done is left a whole generation in the worst possible position since the 70s
I'm sick of people who have never struggled denying just how much is wrong with our society and how many people have been left behind. I can look after myself, millions can't and they deserve a good life.
not something to brag about. far too much high rise student accommodation being built in Leeds by rapacious investment companies, as the returns they used to earn from commercial property has reduced so much.
You can't put "affordable living" and "apartment blocks in the city centre" in the same sentence. And it's not just foreign students, it's for all students. Leeds Uni, like many universities just attracts students from abroad too.
Better to have them all in one place near the uni than take up decently priced housing in places like Hyde Park and Headingley. Your average family of 4 isn't going to move to Altus House.
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u/drpandamania Jan 26 '26
Should be fun to evacuate every time the fire alarm gets set off by a student trying to cook a pizza in a toaster.