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UK: Plans to build more than 800 coliving studios and student units on the edge of Exeter city centre have been approved.
A total of 399 PBSA units and 414 coliving 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.
An earlier plan 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.
The units will be spread across seven blocks to be built on the site, which has been empty since 2021. Developer NCO (Seven) Limited said the site would be car-free with 448 bicycle spaces. A fifth of the units will be affordable.
The planning meeting heard 79 trees would be removed from the site with 183 new ones planted.
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 risen from 22,684 in 2019/20 to 26,888 in 2023/24.
Highlights:
• Plans to build more than 800 coliving studios and student units on the edge of Exeter city centre have been approved
• A total of 399 PBSA units and 414 coliving 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
• The units will be spread across seven blocks to be built on the site, which has been empty since 2021
• Developer NCO (Seven) Limited said the site would be car-free with 448 bicycle spaces. A fifth of the units will be affordable
