Planning officials call for 8-storey Scottish student housing development to be rejected

Proposals for a major new student housing development in Edinburgh have been recommended for refusal by council planners, despite the developers warning that it would result in a "missed opportunity" to free up housing stock elsewhere in the city.

Property firm Square & Crescent wants to transform the site at Finance House in Orchard Brae, which has lain vacant for the past six years, by converting it into accommodation fit for hundreds of students in the city.

Under the plans, the existing 1960s eight storey building would be used to accommodate 301 student bed spaces and 124 square metres of flexible co-working space. A five storey extension, built in the 1970s, would be demolished to make way for a new-build residential development comprising 65 flats.

Developers want to transform the site at Orchard Brae. | Square and Crescent.

Square & Crescent, which specialises in developing new builds and converting commercial buildings back into residential dwellings, argues that the project represents an opportunity to address critical housing shortages in Edinburgh, and warned that if it was rejected, it could exacerbate the ongoing housing emergency in the city. It says that the inclusion of purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) is a “critical component” of the overall vision, and would potentially free up between 100 to 150 two or three bedroom flats in the city.

Pointing to a report by the Chartered Institute of Housing earlier this year which identified a shortage of 13,852 student bedspaces in Edinburgh, the firm said its development offers a “timely and strategic” response, arguing that it only complies with the council’s own student housing guidance, but the nationwide National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).

The latter framework, it claims, “explicitly recognises” PBSA as a specialist form of housing, advocating for purpose-built schemes in accessible and sustainable locations. Simon Cook, the company’s managing director, urged members to heed the nationwide framework, stating that it “clearly indicates that student housing should be considered as housing, rather than considered separately.”

He added: “As a responsible developer we fully appreciate that student accommodation has become increasingly controversial in recent months. However, the only reason that the mix has changed is that the consented mix is no longer commercially viable, and Finance House is no different.”

The developers say the project will free up other housing stock across the city.

However, David Givan, the chief planning officer at the City of Edinburgh Council, has recommended the plans be rejected, reasoning that it falls foul of several policies in the city's local development plan, including one covering student accommodation.

In a report prepared for councillors, Mr Givan said the PBSA element of the proposal “would not contribute to the delivery of the housing land requirement” or what is known as the minimum all-tenure housing land requirement in NPF4.

He also said Square & Crescent had not provided specific supporting information identifying a gap in provision of student accommodation, and specifically, PBSA, with the Orchard Brae development also failing to achieve “the required mix of housing” according to the council’s own policies.

Councillors on the local authority's development management sub-committee are expected to make a decision on the application at a meeting on Wednesday.