A student accommodation block in Belfast City Centre is to open 30 percent of its rooms for short let accommodation due to “an abnormally high number of voids within the building” for this academic year.
The Edge, a 307-room luxury purpose built student accommodation block, was completed last September at 48-52 York Street, Belfast, BT15, and welcomed its first students that month.
Billed as Belfast’s most eco-friendly purpose built student accommodation scheme, the 11 storey building was completed after 15 months of construction work. This was after years of delay - the building received planning permission at City Hall in October 2017.
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However, this week the applicant behind the development, 48-52 York Street Operating LLP, based in London, was granted an application to temporarily change the use of 92 student bedrooms on three floors to short term let accommodation until the end of August this year.
A representative for the applicant said: “Whenever we made the (last) planning application, it was at the end of October, and the student building would hopefully and ideally have been completed around June time. That allows the summer months for student intake, but unfortunately this building was not completed until September.
“So it missed that. And whilst the guys have been marketing the building fairly aggressively to get students in it, at the point in October when we made the planning application, it was anticipated that there was going to be at least 30 percent of the building vacant. Most other students at that point have accommodation organised.”
They added: “This is fairly typical in other purpose built student accommodation, where they avail of both corporate let, and tourist accommodation, and can be used during summer months.”
At the March meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee at City Hall, elected representatives unanimously approved the new application for short term let, which is expected to last only until the beginning of the 2025/26 term. Council officials recommended that the application be granted.
The council’s Planning Officer report for the application states: “The delivery of the purpose built managed student accommodation at the junction of Frederick Street and York Street suffered some delays towards the end of the building programme, which has resulted in an abnormally high number of vacancies within the building for the academic year 2024/25.
“This application seeks full planning permission for a temporary change of use of 92 student bedrooms to short term let accommodation until the end of August 2025. As such, it is proposed that 30 percent of units, located on floors 5, 7 and 8 and comprising 93 rooms, are permitted a temporary change of use to short term let accommodation until the end of August 2025.”
The report adds: “As of March 2023, short-term lets comprise 21 percent of Belfast City Council’s tourist accommodation. The proposal is for 92 rooms on a temporary basis until the end of August 2025, and therefore would strengthen and diversify the range of short-term visitor accommodation in the city.”
The report adds that the applicant had provided an “appropriate” management plan to the council that “sets out how interaction between students and short-term guests will be minimised.”
Green Councillor Áine Groogan asked if there was any consultation with the students currently occupying the building, and said she was “concerned that students had taken on a lease based on this being a solely student accommodation". A representative for the applicant said “the students are aware that there would be three floors within the building for short term let”.
One of the applicant’s group said: “There will be minimal interaction, and the students have a dedicated member of staff as a liaison (officer).” They said there would be no sharing of facilities between students and non-students.
Asked about the delays suffered by the development, another person from the applicant’s group said: “It was a challenging programme to begin with. We were held up with a couple of items, principally it was the facade that was very last-minute. It took longer to close out the shell, which had a knock on effect. We also had issues to do with utilities towards the end, which delayed the build.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Matt Garrett said he had “concerns around the rateable value and the income potential given temporary use,” in relation to the council’s rates collection regarding the building and its short-term let use.
He successfully proposed the council write to Land and Property Services to “get clarity” on how the council should approach the use of short term letting in student blocks generally, in terms of rates returns.
The Edge was developed by ROK Property and Bridges Fund Management. Bridges Fund Management said after the opening: “In Belfast, we felt there was a clear shortage of high-quality purpose-built accommodation to house the University’s growing student population. We set out to meet this need by creating a scheme with best-in-class sustainability credentials that would also support students’ wellbeing.”
The Edge opened with prices starting from £149 per week and flexible tenancy lengths for students. The state-of-the-art building includes a high-quality fitness suite, dedicated yoga and Pilates studio, as well as a range of amenities such as an outdoor zen garden, cinema room and gaming nooks. The building is fully electric, using air sourced heat pumps and solar PV, as well as water-saving technology and storm water attenuation.
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