Students are being priced out of PBSA by high rents as developers max out their return on investment, say housing activist group, Living Rent.
And the big increase in the number of new PBSAs across Edinburgh is often at the expense of new social housing, they say.
PBSA is highly lucrative and rapidly expanding market outlines a report from Estate Agency Knight Frank . It suggests the value of the sector is on course to reach £104bn by 2028. Last year, the figure stood at just £148m. The report concludes, ‘There is real optimism for the future of the market’.
But the appetite for developing BPSA does not necessary provide a solution to Edinburgh’s growing student housing crisis. Currently there is a short fall of 133,000 in bed spaces and this number is growing as universities expand.
The new development plan, pictured above, has faced backlash over its focus on PBSAs. Image credit: Editson Homes.
“Developers often charge high rents that price out many students on low incomes”, says Rufus Daley of the action group Living Rent. “And the quality of some BPSA accommodation is not always that good either”.
Rufus suggests that developers often face little resistance from either Edinburgh Council or the Scottish Government when submitting applications for PBSA.
“In Edinburgh developers nearly always get planning permission to build PBSAs”, says Rufus.
He cites the example of the Old Tynecastle High School in Gorgie. It ceased being a school in 2009 and was bought by developers, Dan and Shane Teague. Their proposal was to demolish the school and build PBSA. Their initial proposal was rejected by Edinburgh Council but on appeal it was granted approval by the Scottish Government.
Developers are favouring PBSAs over affordable housing for a number of reasons. They are not subject to the same restrictions as affordable housing such as rent controls or eviction bands. Increasingly, they offer a better return on investment too. There have been a number of cases of initial planning proposals being ‘flipped’, changing the development profile from a mixed portfolio of perhaps offices, affordable housing to one dominated or made exclusively PBSA.
“Developers are increasingly flipping a proposal, changing its focus from affordable housing to BPSA because there is more available finance, it is less risky and it has a quicker return on their investment”, says Rufus.
“PBSA are not the solution to the student accommodation issue, and they are being built at the expense of affordable housing too”.
