Studio for sale in Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5, 0 Bedroom

Keele university student accomodation scheme

Blackburn House, Newcastle Under Lyme

Conversion to 140 studio apartments.

Location

Blackburn House is located on The Midway in Newcastle Under Lyme town centre.
It is positioned immediately adjacent to a new Odeon Cinema Complex, Morrison’s supermarket, within 1 minute walk of main shops and bars that that town centre has to offer.

The town centre bus station is within 300m and provides regular buses to and from Keele University taking approximately 8 minutes each way.
Keele University
Keele University in located on the outskirts of Newcastle Under Lyme, about 2 miles from the town centre. It is a campus based University founded in 1949. It is the UKs largest campus university combining research facilities and science park. There is a particular concentration of biotech and medical research at the campus. The University has invested £115m in new campus infrastructure in the last 10 years.

The University is positioned 45 in the University guide.
There are 10,000 students based at the campus of which 76% are under graduates and 24% post graduates. 12% of students are from overseas.
Existing Student Accommodation
The campus has 5 existing halls of residence on site which were constructed between 1960 and 2003. There are 3,244 bedrooms on campus of which only 770 are ensuite. The rest are rooms with communal bathroom facilties. The University has carried out an assessment of each accommodation block they generally grade them as being of a ‘fair’ quality.

The University has recognized that they need to respond to the shift in makeup of student population and the better standards that they now demand. They have a strategic focus on increasing the international and post graduate numbers.
The current on-campus accommodation falls significantly below the standards expected by students and there is a substantial short fall in actual numbers required.
The University has no immediate plans to develop further accommodation on site apart from redeveloping their existing estate. This will lead to a drop in overall bedrooms as they need to make the bedrooms larger to accommodate up to date requirements.
This therefore leads to a lot of student seeking accommodation in the community.

External Accommodation

Despite there being a significant shortfall in student accommodation on campus, there is no purpose built accommodation within Newcastle itself despite it being the closest town to the University. Most of the students live in terraced houses and flats within the town in general substandard accommodation.
The only purpose built external accommodation of note listed on the Keele University website is the Liberty Living scheme in Stoke on Trent, some 8 miles and 30 minutes from the campus. Here rents are £120pw for a cluster bed.

Conclusion

We have therefore spotted that there is a substantial shortfall in provision for student accommodation within Newcastle itself. Keele University is very well regarded and attracts a high calibre of student.
In particular there is a lack of purpose built studio accommodation to cater for the post graduate and overseas students, which the University are looking to attract.
The proposed building will be the newest and by far the best building available to students. It is located on a bus route which will get them to the campus within 10 minutes. It is immediately surrounded by shopping and leisure faculties that will be desirable to students.