Student flats at former Brighton Co-op set for approval

1:40pm Tuesday 11th December 2012 in News

The former London Road Co-op looks set to be student flats The former London Road Co-op looks set to be student flats

Life could finally be breathed back into the former Co-op building in Brighton’s London Road.

The 80-year-old property has stood empty since 2007 but the latest plans for the site look set to be approved.

Developers are proposing accommodation for 351 students as well as a retailer on the ground floor.

Previous plans, which involved a new building and accommodation for 407 students, had been refused planning permission by Brighton and Hove City Council.

But the new proposal retains the original 1930s facade and has scaled down the number of units.

It has been recommended for approval by council officers and is to be debated at a council planning meeting tomorrow.

Paul White, from Genesis Town Planning, which represents the Watkin Jones Group which is behind the scheme, said the development would benefit the area.

He said: “We have always hoped the scheme would kick- start the regeneration of the whole London Road area.”

Car free

As part of the scheme students would be asked to sign a tenancy agreement encouraging them not to bring cars, to ease congestion and pressure on parking spaces.

Students would also be encouraged to use the existing public transport links.

It would be managed by a specialist student accommodation company but the University of Sussex would allocate tenants.

Charles Dudley, the university’s director of residential, sport and trading services, said: “The London Road site would enable us to offer housing to undergraduates and postgraduates who would otherwise be housed in the private sector.”

Opposition

Not everyone is happy with the plans, with the council receiving 45 letters and three petitions, with a total of 227 signatures, objecting to the development.

Among the complaints are noise pollution and serious social disruption to the local community.

Ward councillors Pete West and Lizzie Dean have also |written to the council to object.

They say they are concerned the influx of students could lead to a rise in off-licences and takeaways in the street that will not enhance the local economy.

If approved, the site could be ready for the 2013/14 academic year.

Talking point: Are more student flats needed in Brighton? What would you like to see on the site?

See the latest news headlines from The Argus:

More news from The Argus

Follow @brightonargus

Daily Echo on Facebook - facebook.com/southerndailyecho Like us on Facebook

Google+ Add us to your circles on Google+

Comments(30)

banargustrolls says...
2:15pm Tue 11 Dec 12

As if London Rd wasn't bad enough already. 'Studentifrication gains an even bigger grip in Brighton' should have been the headline. Watch London Rd turn into a free-for-all street toilet when they go up..
What a mess..

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
2:33pm Tue 11 Dec 12

The council, the police and the unis have done very little to manage the studentification of the whole city. Labour and the Tories have left a shameful legacy on the city which is the decay of whole streets with run down properties, streets filled with filth and fractured relationships between students and locals.
In the past decade the number has swelled by more than an additional 30,000 with almost 5,000 homes in the city being converted into student lets.
These properties have not been managed, the unis have done absolutely no engagement with the communities affected and the council have put few resources into managing the huge impact of putting groups of 18 year old 'children' into homes in the city without any 'adult' supervision and then expect them to keep the noise down, put their refuse out etc.
Therefore, I feel for the residents nearby whose lives will be blighted, but in a selfish way I am delighted that they will move out of my community and somewhere else.
The only positive is that fewer British students are attending the unis and more Chinese and other nationalities are, and they have a more serious approach to study than the horrible, slefish, spoilt British ones who have lived in my community in the past 15 years.
I have to say the issue become worse when new Labour let anyone who could hold a pen into uni and we found inarticulate, rude and actually very stupid kids moving into houses in our communities wreaking havoc.
But perhaps this block will be managed more efficiently as the council could insist that planning is only given if a full time officer lives on site to manage the noise/anti-social behaviour.

Report this post »

UppityPrimate says...
2:48pm Tue 11 Dec 12

you moan that the area is run down, you moan that there's no trade because there's no footfall, you moan that the building is full of squatters, then you moan when they suggest moving in an instant source of foot traffic, disposable income, and the need for stuff like clothing, electronics, food, and stationery. what WOULD make you lot happy? if they filled it with middle aged, non-smoking, labour supporters with no pets or children? At least if it's specifically student housing, tied to the college/university in some way there will be more accountability for the landlords to act on littering and antisocial behaviour than with private low-rent accommodation. and certainly more than with a squat. don't tell me the students will be worse than the london road special brew and public defecation appreciation society.

Report this post »

uniteagainstparkingcharges says...
2:56pm Tue 11 Dec 12

I welcome this news as the old co-op building has been left abandoned and derelict for too long.

I had a look round the building fairly recently and it seems an ideal location to house students. And any impact of noise is only likely to affect those living in the new development.

It is also likely to benefit the businesses in the area and encourage more new businesses to move in.

At the moment London road is crying out for some kind of re-development as it is over-run with junkies. And although the students will, on the whole, most likely still be drug users, they will be a more well-spoken and over-all better class of druggie.

Report this post »

inadaptado says...
2:58pm Tue 11 Dec 12

So sick of complains. Nothing is good enough. Just nuke the whole street and put it out of its misery.

Report this post »

Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit says...
3:39pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Tell you what, why don't we do what usually do in Brighton? Let the building collapse and the site become derelict whilst we argue over every single detail of every single scheme for decades.

There won't BE a perfect use found for this building; every single scheme, almost by definition, will increase traffic, people, noise, nuisance, etc. Student flats sounds as good (or as bad) a use for the building as anything else. Do it.

Report this post »

jsuk2000 says...
3:43pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Would be great if a Wilkinsons (aka "Wilkos" opened there!)

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
4:12pm Tue 11 Dec 12

I undertsand that when the student block in Southover Street went up there were problems with the kids smoking outside at all hours as they were not allowed to smoke inside so they would hang about in the street smoking and larking about.
However, once the uni got to grips with the issues the problems are not as bad so hopefully having them in once place is easier to manage than having them living in commmunities with working people and families which just does not work.
These kids lead totally different lives and keep different hours to the geneal population as admitted by the owner/manager of one of the student letting agents recently during a radio interview.
The kids sleep in the day and get up late afternoon and then stay up all night and that does not work with ordinary working people and in communities where children go to school.
Purpose build student centres is the way forward. I think this will be a good thing for the London Road if the site is managed properly and also free up family homes which perhaps could be returned to the rental market via the council for some of the 12,000 local people on the council housing waiting list.

Report this post »

KarenT says...
4:12pm Tue 11 Dec 12

This is probably the only option as no private developer is going to be interested in it, given that the area is so awful and so the unit resale value will be low. Plus with the restrictions on developers to provide a certain percentage of "affordable housing" they have to be able to sell the rest of the units as high-end urban flats, which isn't going to happen in London Road. No upmarket retailer will be interested either - John Lewis was considering it for a while but apparently changed their minds because of the area. It would just take one major high-end retailer or property developer to invest in this space, but they won't, cuz they're all waiting for the area to rejuvenate first, so it's a Catch-22! If it were me I certainly wouldn't want to be living next to a unit with 350 students in it, nor do I think it will do anything to lift this area out of its scuzziness. It all depends on how much control is in place and to what extent the kids are left to run riot. As someone else pointed out getting a place at uni these days does not necessarily equate with studious academic young people concentrating on their work! What about artist's studios? Historically this has often been something that triggers the gradual gentrification of a rundown area, i.e. Hoxton, Dalston and Hackney (although I realise London has its own rules). Eventually all the media types moved in to grab a piece of that "vibe", followed by the city folks all wanting their little pied a terre in "arty London Road!" :D

Report this post »

greenpaws says...
4:12pm Tue 11 Dec 12

This project seems to makes sense. It'll free up 70-80 properties in the local area. It'll concentrate student number in a busy less residential area with more supervision. It'll massively help the local trade and add to the viability of affordable shopping for the local community. Fab!

Report this post »

KarenT says...
4:17pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Follow-up to what I just wrote... the problem with gentrification is that it eventually prices out people on low-incomes, including the artists who played the first part in making an area desirable. In other words, even more homelessness for people on low-incomes. A sad fact of life is, low income and gentrification just don't mix.

Report this post »

s_james says...
4:20pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Contrary to what has been argued in several posts above, I’d suggest that this proposal in fact demonstrates effective management of ‘studentification
. Housing students in a purpose built, adequately supervised and managed building close to public transport links will decrease demand for student accommodation elsewhere in the city and reduce the negative impact on established residential streets

Report this post »

KarenT says...
4:25pm Tue 11 Dec 12

s_james wrote:
Contrary to what has been argued in several posts above, I’d suggest that this proposal in fact demonstrates effective management of ‘studentification

��. Housing students in a purpose built, adequately supervised and managed building close to public transport links will decrease demand for student accommodation elsewhere in the city and reduce the negative impact on established residential streets
350 isn't a lot though is it? Is it really going to make any discernible difference in the demand for student accommodation elsewhere? I think there's something like 8,000 undergraduate students attending University of Sussex during any one academic year.

Report this post »

Crystal Ball says...
4:30pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Why not open it up as a Co-Op?

Report this post »

KarenT says...
4:33pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Crystal Ball wrote:
Why not open it up as a Co-Op?
I loved that old Co-Op! It was a bit like shopping in a post-apocalyptic ghost town but that was definitely part of its charm.

Report this post »

uniteagainstparkingcharges says...
4:48pm Tue 11 Dec 12

KarenT wrote:
s_james wrote:
Contrary to what has been argued in several posts above, I’d suggest that this proposal in fact demonstrates effective management of ‘studentification

��
��. Housing students in a purpose built, adequately supervised and managed building close to public transport links will decrease demand for student accommodation elsewhere in the city and reduce the negative impact on established residential streets
350 isn't a lot though is it? Is it really going to make any discernible difference in the demand for student accommodation elsewhere? I think there's something like 8,000 undergraduate students attending University of Sussex during any one academic year.
And most of these 8,000 probably go unnoticed in any community whether it is an "established residential street" or not.

Not all students are noisy, just in the same way, not all professionals are quiet, peace loving folk who never make any noise late at night.

By choosing to pigeon hole people all that is likely, is you create the self fulfilling prophecy that students and noise are synonymous with each other. If you give a whole group of people a label then you are more likely making the problem worse as they are likely to behave in the way that is expected.

In addition, the idea of creating segregated areas of students is never going to be a viable solution. The best way to deal with problem neighbours is through local community discourse.

Report this post »

billy goat-gruff says...
4:58pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Will the no. 25 bendy buses be rerouted up London Road?

Report this post »

bug eye says...
5:40pm Tue 11 Dec 12

I hope the planning committee see sense on this one and refuse. with another proposed student site on circus street this is going to be student alley and destroy communities.This is a scandalous waste of a prime brownfield site that could be used for homes for local people or better still a department store. The council are against students living in this area and penalising private landlords that have provided a great service, now they are going to exascerbate the problem, who on earth is now going to invest in new homes or businesses in this area unless they are based around alcolhol.

Report this post »

UppityPrimate says...
5:50pm Tue 11 Dec 12

homes for local people? get a grip! the people in NEED of homes wouldn't be able to afford to live that centrally, unless you want 'low cost social housing' that will engender the same scorn and derision for the same reasons 'turning it into another whitehawk blah blah'
like it or not, this town has two things to offer. tourism, and education. people don't come here to work in the IT sector, and we've got little or no serious manufacturing/factor
y type work in the vicinity. SOMETHING has to bring money into the local economy and london road's array of empty shops, mixed with freshly painted 'amusement arcades' betting shops, and off licenses is a PRIME example of why we need a reliable turnaround of people. at least with students we can guarantee they'll be paying rent and spending money that in large part will come from outside the local council's coffers.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
5:53pm Tue 11 Dec 12

The unis are looking at a number of sites for more accommodation, including Preston Barracks. Varley Halls have just been re-built putting more on the site in Coldean Lane.
The numbers applying to uni are dropping, the fees increasing so unis know that they will have to offer an accommodation/fee package to attract 'customers' to compete with unis abroad which are far cheaper.
Who really wants to pay £27,000 in fees plus £400 a month to live in a slum student let in Moulsecoomb when the students soon realise they want to live nearer town as they only attend college one day a week and actually have no need to live near campus, particulalry when the buses are £4.20 a day to get into town.
The colleges will have no option but to offer education/accommodat
ion packages to reduce costs and be competitive.
This is a good idea and yes, how great would it be for the 5,000 family homes to be returned to the rental market, particulalry if the council entered into agreement with landlords to let them to council tenants. Also family lets tend to be of a better standard.
As for those good students who are not living the student nocturnal life, they will probably still choose to rent in the private rental market with other private renters and working people so the community demographic will settle.
This is a good solution and the colleges should create more student centres.

Report this post »

s&k says...
6:07pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Shame, could be so much more than just student 'digs'. Can't we do better than this as a city? I'm not even sure the argument that students will increase retail on London Road stacks up. They'll use Sainsburys, maybe the Co-Op, Dominoes and the offy. Fresh meat indeed.

Report this post »

sussexram40 says...
6:38pm Tue 11 Dec 12

The retail unit underneath will be a late night Tesco Express.

Report this post »

Brighton_Toffee says...
6:45pm Tue 11 Dec 12

"Among the complaints are noise pollution and serious social disruption to the local community"
On London Road? No change there, then.

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
6:50pm Tue 11 Dec 12

bug eye, the landlords have not given a good service which is why the council has been forced to start a HMO licensing scheme to manage landlords who are not managing their properties.
Do you really think a cash-strapped council really wants to act as a manager for landlords. It's ludicrous that landlords have to have a set of basic instructions issued on how to manage a house.
Also, if landlords had provided modern, high quality accommodation the unis would not even bother to invest all this money in trying to secure sites for halls.
Landlords bit the hand that fed them and have only themselves to blame for the move away from the private rental market.
I lived in student and rented houses for almost 20 years before buying my home and 80 per cent of the properties were poorly managed and maintained.

Report this post »

brighton1966 says...
4:49am Wed 12 Dec 12

Just for the record the people behind this are welsh based Watkin Jones group who made a profit in 2010 – of £11.1m – on sales of £46.2m .and according to their website have already amassed 20,000 student "units" with 5,000 in the pipeline,,so this is solely about profit not any social housing thing.

But with so many homeless people needing affordable housing should this be just for them.and be purchased by a Housing association or Council.

All that's going to happen is the Unis enrol more students from here or overseas as they are other money making organisations, unfortunately those wished for mousecombe houses
will transfer to more student houses as families don't/can't pay enough rent.

Blame Maggie for selling em and Labour for the 17 years in which they failed to bring in rent control and opened the immigration floodgates, and just for the record I see Abu Qatada got a new council house the other day despite 2 million being on councils waiting list.

The future well Arcane laws stipulating that vagabonds be “commanded to avoid the town” will be rehashed, with a churn of homeless families moved to the cheapest areas of England, irrespective of whether there is any work.So family's of Brighton look forward to a long north-wood train journey in the next few years.

We need to build and quickly but Council red tape and nimby attitudes has just about killed that off.

Mind you they seem to be able to keep slipping cycle lanes in and wasting money on fancy bike racks.

Report this post »

LAWgull says...
7:46am Wed 12 Dec 12

we need more betting offices in this area

Report this post »

Vic357 says...
9:04am Wed 12 Dec 12

So much for doing London road up, I live in this area and the students I have to put up now with are hell!! Put something worth while there!!

Report this post »

s_james says...
10:24am Wed 12 Dec 12

KarenT wrote:
s_james wrote:
Contrary to what has been argued in several posts above, I’d suggest that this proposal in fact demonstrates effective management of ‘studentification

��
��. Housing students in a purpose built, adequately supervised and managed building close to public transport links will decrease demand for student accommodation elsewhere in the city and reduce the negative impact on established residential streets
350 isn't a lot though is it? Is it really going to make any discernible difference in the demand for student accommodation elsewhere? I think there's something like 8,000 undergraduate students attending University of Sussex during any one academic year.
There will be other proposals for new student housing elsewhere in the city, including on the university campus, which collectively will have a significant effect.

Report this post »

Notters_Seagull says...
11:09am Wed 12 Dec 12

They reckon it'll be ready for the start of the 2013/14 term? Really?! 8 months for the council to make a decision; the scheme to be put out to tender and a huge building to be fully refurbished?

Report this post »

chrisso says...
2:09pm Wed 12 Dec 12

Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit wrote:
Tell you what, why don't we do what usually do in Brighton? Let the building collapse and the site become derelict whilst we argue over every single detail of every single scheme for decades. There won't BE a perfect use found for this building; every single scheme, almost by definition, will increase traffic, people, noise, nuisance, etc. Student flats sounds as good (or as bad) a use for the building as anything else. Do it.
Spot on. I see the ice rink site's still derelict. And Black Rock, the fruit and veg market in circus street, the Astoria site, the Hippodrome, part of the old Brighton Station car park site, West Pier, Medina Baths, Sackville Hotel site, Preston barracks etc etc
And how many decades did it take for the Jubilee street site to be developed?

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree