Huge Coventry student accommodation seeking new use in summer months

A huge student block in Coventry could see a change of use just four years after being completed. Plans to rent rooms at Uninn Infinity to non-students in the summer have been lodged.

The new use would apply temporarily for the four months of the year from June to September, according to plans. Up to 80 of the 500-bed block's studio rooms would be let out, said the application, though a planning statement put the number at 152.

The rooms in the building at No.8 Parkside will be used as so-called "serviced accommodation" and aimed at young workers and visitors to the city, the statement added. It said the building completed in 2020 operated "successfully and at full occupation."

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But Covid-19 saw demand for housing from international students plummet and more are now going home in the summer holidays. It is this group the block was designed to be especially attractive to.

Under the new mixed use the rooms that are temporarily let out would have a maximum stay of 90 days. The move will "help support tourism," and will not negatively impact students as it would only be for these months, the statement claimed.

The report also noted that due to "volatile" student demand other purpose built blocks in the city have converted to a mixed use. This includes No.33 Parkside and been "successful, benefitting the City Centre economy as well as avoiding vacant homes," it claimed.

Plans are due to be decided on by Coventry council. They can be seen under reference PL/2024/0000689/FUL.

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