Glasgow provides 6,000 scholar rooms to town over 10 years

Virtually 6,000 purpose-built scholar rooms had been finished in Glasgow previously 10 years, information received by means of the BBC displays.

The figures display that since 2015, 20 scholar blocks had been finished, with the bulk situated within the town centre.

As well as, Glasgow Town Council licensed making plans permission closing yr for the development of an extra 3,222 scholar beds – a miles upper determine than any previously decade.

In spite of this, the town is suffering to stay alongside of the upward push in call for, with information from the Upper Schooling Statistics Company (HESA) appearing the selection of scholars within the town has risen by means of greater than 20,000 previously decade.

Rents in Scotland’s greatest town have skyrocketed lately because of a loss of provide and the council declared a housing emergency in 2023 amid “exceptional pressures”.

Previous this month, it wrote to the homeowners of greater than 2,500 vacant homes asking them to deliver them again into use.

In the meantime, the town’s universities have noticed numbers proceed to upward thrust.

Glasgow College has higher its scholar inhabitants by means of greater than 12,000 since 2015, figures launched by means of HESA display.

And Strathclyde College and Glasgow Caledonian College have additionally higher their scholar numbers considerably previously decade, emerging by means of about 3,000 and 5,000 respectively.

Originally of this educational yr, a file co-authored by means of Glasgow College warned that 1000’s of scholars had been vulnerable to homelessness after it prompt there was once a scholar housing shortfall of greater than 6,000 within the town.

Freedom of Knowledge figures received by means of BBC Scotland Information display 34 making plans programs for purpose-built scholar housing had been accredited by means of Glasgow Town Council since 1 January 2015.

A few of these plans are nonetheless below building.

This features a 26-storey scholar housing block in Anderston, which might accommodate 410 scholars.

A 36-floor scholar flat building close to Charing Move, housing 784 scholars, could also be below building.

This will likely be Glasgow’s 2nd tallest construction, after the Glasgow Science Centre’s Tower.

Builders Watkin Jones stated the valuables, which will likely be known as the Ard, will cope with a “continual undersupply” of scholar lodging and unencumber properties extra suitable for households.

Then again, town centre citizens have complained concerning the quantity of scholar apartments being constructed within the house.

In November 2024, a 19 storey scholar flat was once given the fairway mild regardless of 60 objections from neighbours who claimed that the proposed construction was once over the top and that there have been too many scholar apartments within the town centre already.

A file submitted in enhance of the applying said that Glasgow was once dealing with a “main provide scarcity” of scholar lodging.

Prof James White, a making plans and concrete design professor at Glasgow College, stated that the brand new apartments would deliver “widely certain advantages” to the town centre.

He stated: “A large number of the scholar tendencies are at the outer edge of Glasgow town centre, the place the residential inhabitants is reasonably low.

“Those tendencies deliver younger other folks and trade to those spaces, so I feel, in a way, it is certain for the neighbourhoods.”

In 2019, Glasgow Town Council introduced their town centre residing technique, which goals to spice up the town centre inhabitants to 40,000 by means of 2035.

Prof White stated that whilst those scholar tendencies addressed a present want for extra lodging, he’s fascinated about their longevity if the marketplace for scholar housing drops.

“Being wholly reliant on scholars is problematic from a sustainability point of view,” he stated.

“We want a mixture of other housing within the town centre – at this time, its skewed against scholars and the way simple will or not it’s to modify the ones structures someday?

“If we aren’t additionally construction parks and colleges, if we do wish to exchange using those structures later, it’s going to be onerous for households to transport in as they may not have the amenities they want.”