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UK: Construction of a 145-bed coliving block on Exeter’s Summerland Street has been postponed after Exeter City Council approved an amendment to the block’s planning consent.
The council approved the plans for the six-storey block between Verney Street and Red Lion Lane, opposite a 734-bed student accommodation block in Cheeke Street, in January last year.
The approval followed a council decision taken in private in May 2022 to restructure the leases on the land, which it owns, to enable demolition of the existing commercial premises and redevelopment for coliving.
Developer McLaren Property initially proposed a 167-bed seven-storey block before revising the plans in September 2023.
Two weeks ago, McLaren asked the council to make a non-material amendment to the permission to “make clear that the approved development is a phased development comprising a demolition phase, followed by a construction phase”. The council approved the amendment on Tuesday.
The council said in a statement: “The need to be more explicit in the consent is considered necessary given recent case law and the different definitions of commencement of development that exist in Town and Country Planning and Community Infrastructure Levy legislation.”
Highlights:
• Construction of a 145-bed coliving block on Exeter’s Summerland Street has been postponed after Exeter City Council approved an amendment to the block’s planning consent
• Developer McLaren Property initially proposed a 167-bed seven-storey block before revising the plans in September 2023
• Two weeks ago, McLaren asked the council to make a non-material amendment to the permission to “make clear that the approved development is a phased development comprising a demolition phase, followed by a construction phase”
