Tuesday, March 11, 2024
Ashford announces new student development in Edinburgh
Edinburgh continues to be in high demand for higher education, with students numbers continuing to rise year after year, placing an ever-increasing squeeze on accommodation in the capital. The five education providers in Edinburgh currently have a combined total of 8,325 bed spaces for approximately 41,525 full time students. Therefore only 20% of students are able to reside within University accommodation and the others need to stay in private sector accommodation,
To help cope with the demand for student accommodation, Edinburgh-based Ashford Property Group is developing a 70-bed hall of residence at Blackfriars Street, which has been pre-let to the University of Edinburgh. The development contains apartments with shared facilities and will have an end value of £5 million. Planning permission has been granted for the seven-floor development and construction is schedule to commence this summer, with the estimated completion being autumn 2009.
Andrew Smith, Director of Ashford Property says: "We see this is a strategic growth area for Ashford, particularly as trends show that more students are choosing to participate in higher education."
Ashford has a solid track record in student accommodation, having previously developed a 60-bed facility at Roxburgh Place. The Roxburgh Place Halls of residence was previously offices for the Institute of Occupational Medicine and was converted by Ashford and sold to a private investor in 2003 for £3.25 million.
With the numbers of students continuing to rise - Scottish Government statistics quote a 40% increase in higher education from 203,360 to 285,180 over the past ten years - demand continues to outstrip supply, with an ongoing shortage of quality student accommodation, particularly in the capital.
The Scottish market is also fuelled by a substantial increase in students from other parts of the UK, particularly England, where there has been a 12.1% increase over the past year, according to UCAS. Over 27,100 students from the rest of the UK now study in Scotland. In addition, the latest Scottish Government figures show that overseas applications have increased by a massive 20%, and next year will see a record 6,000 students from non-European countries enrolling at Scotland's educational establishments.
To help cope with the demand for student accommodation, Edinburgh-based Ashford Property Group is developing a 70-bed hall of residence at Blackfriars Street, which has been pre-let to the University of Edinburgh. The development contains apartments with shared facilities and will have an end value of £5 million. Planning permission has been granted for the seven-floor development and construction is schedule to commence this summer, with the estimated completion being autumn 2009.
Andrew Smith, Director of Ashford Property says: "We see this is a strategic growth area for Ashford, particularly as trends show that more students are choosing to participate in higher education."
Ashford has a solid track record in student accommodation, having previously developed a 60-bed facility at Roxburgh Place. The Roxburgh Place Halls of residence was previously offices for the Institute of Occupational Medicine and was converted by Ashford and sold to a private investor in 2003 for £3.25 million.
With the numbers of students continuing to rise - Scottish Government statistics quote a 40% increase in higher education from 203,360 to 285,180 over the past ten years - demand continues to outstrip supply, with an ongoing shortage of quality student accommodation, particularly in the capital.
The Scottish market is also fuelled by a substantial increase in students from other parts of the UK, particularly England, where there has been a 12.1% increase over the past year, according to UCAS. Over 27,100 students from the rest of the UK now study in Scotland. In addition, the latest Scottish Government figures show that overseas applications have increased by a massive 20%, and next year will see a record 6,000 students from non-European countries enrolling at Scotland's educational establishments.
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