Readers demand 'normal housing' for Leicester after latest student flats plan revealed
LeicestershireLive readers have said they believe the city has had its fill of student housing after a plan for 50 more flats on the site of a former antiques store was approved. The plan was given the green light on appeal after Leicester City Council had previously rejected the scheme.
The development will see the old Leicester Antiques Warehouse, which shut its doors in October 2019, in Welford Road, make way for two new blocks – one four-storey building housing 29 flats and a three-storey block behind it with 21 units. All the flats are intended to be student accommodation, according to developer ASKKD Limited, and to be 'studios'. A studio flat is a small apartment in which a single room has a variety of uses, eg living room, bedroom and kitchen, usually with a separate bathroom.
Rejecting the "unacceptable" plan, the city council had raised concerns about issues including future occupants' living conditions, the size of the buildings and street clutter created by bins being left out. News that the blocks would be built nonetheless prompted backlash from readers, with one saying online: “We’ve got plenty of student flats. What about normal housing for people that actually need it?”
READ MORE: Double red lines could 'kill off business' claims readers as council gives update on scheme
Another wrote: “Surely there's enough student housing now? People don't want to live in studios. Especially with the increase of working from home jobs."
A third said they believed that Leicester already had its fair share of student accommodation. They said: “We have more student flats than actual students!”
Others believed the former Leicester Antiques Warehouse should have been replaced with housing for families. One said: “Homes are needed and wasn't the massive student village enough? A couple of family houses could have been built here.”
The size of the accommodation to be provided also raised eyebrows from some. One person wrote: “Far too little too late for the council’s planners to be expressing concerns about the relatively small size of studio apartments, having already approved thousands of them all over the city centre."
While another opponent said: “It's time there was a priority for housing the population of Leicester, not more mini flats for students. I believe that student flats can be built smaller than those for the general public.”
How do you feel about the plans? Does Leicester need more student housing? Have your say in our comments section.