Hundreds of studios and student flats get go ahead

Plans to build more than 800 studios and student flats at a "gateway site" on the edge of a city centre have been approved.

A total of 399 student flats and 414 co-living studios will be constructed in buildings up to six storeys high on the site of the old police station and magistrates' court on Heavitree Road in Exeter.

Similar plans for the site - owned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner - were previously refused by councillors and on appeal because of fears they would harm the character of the area.

Exeter City Council's planning committee approved the project by eight votes to two during a meeting on Monday.

Within the plans, the student flats and co-living units will be spread over seven blocks to be built on the site, which has been empty since 2021.

Each unit will be between 17.5sq m (188sq ft) and 28sq m (300sq ft) - about a tenth or an eighth of the size of a tennis court.

The co-living units are rental studios aimed at young professionals with shared kitchen, lounge and workspace facilities.

Developers NCO (Seven) Limited said the site would be "car-free" with 448 bicycle spaces and 20% of the units will be "affordable".

The meeting heard 79 trees would be removed from the site with 183 new ones planted.

At the meeting, Matt Vizard, Labour councillor for Newtown and St Leonard's, said it was a "key city centre gateway site" and residents of neighbouring Higher Summerlands were "the big losers".

The planning committee heard one block of co-living flats would be about 14m (46ft) away from one of the existing homes on Higher Summerlands.

One resident, who did not want to be named, told the BBC the development was "too close, too high and too big".

She said: "The size is horrific - all of our light will go.

"We don't need student accommodation there, we need affordable homes for local people."

Gareth Hooper from DPP Planning, the planning agent acting for the developer, said there was increasing demand in the city for both student accommodation and co-living units.

He said the project was a "high quality development that would enhance the city".

The council's planning department recommended approval of the scheme.

Planning officer John Douglass told councillors: "We think the scheme will deliver a multitude of benefits - such that will significantly outweigh the harms."

Councillors were told they must "attribute greater weight to the objective of housing delivery" as the council cannot currently demonstrate it can deliver the number of new homes required under national planning policies.

A Devon Housing Commission report published in 2024, said the average rent in Exeter for purpose-built student accommodation was £8,600 a year.

The number of full-time University of Exeter students has steadily risen from 22,684 in 2019/20 to 26,888 in 2023/24.

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