Plans for hundreds of new student flats

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Homes could be bulldozed to make way for hundreds of student flats.

Developer Southwark Homes Limited has submitted plans to flatten seven apartments and build an 11-storey block of flats for 444 students off Borough High Street.

A smaller nearby block of eight apartments could also be built. The new homes will be targeted at key workers, according to plans submitted to Southwark council.

Offices let out at cheap prices to cultural organisations by not-for-profit company Hotel Elephant will also be demolished as part of the proposed redevelopment.

Extra space for offices would be provided in the new blocks, 10per cent of which would be affordable.

Southwark council previously accepted a developer’s application to build a 13-storey hotel on the site in 2020.

Permission for this development will expire in May 2023, unless work starts on the project.

The most recent plans for the site submitted to the council say the hundreds of proposed student flats will “relieve pressure upon the demand for traditional housing in the area” and can “therefore be considered as contributing to the housing market”.

The developer claims the planned block will free up homes in the area for locals, which otherwise would be occupied by students.

Southwark council will make a decision on the plans at a future date.

Pictured top: CGI of planned student flats from Borough Road (Picture: Southwark council planning documents)