Work on a major new student accommodation development in St Andrews could start within two months, bringing 25 jobs, the developer says.
Plans for the new building at East Sands were approved by Fife councillors last Wednesday, paving the way for work to begin on the 135-room development on the site of the existing Wonder Years nursery.
Applicants Alumno Developments, who specialise in student accommodation, identified a strong demand among St Andrews University’s student population.
They say the new building will help ease continuing pressure on housing resources within the town.
“We are delighted to have been given the green light by local councillors, who played a key role in helping us to hone this important development to suit such a special location in St Andrews,” said David Campbell, Alumno’s managing director.
“We are now hard at work to ensure we can start on the site within the next two months, with a view to completing the development in the summer of 2016, ready for the 2016/17 academic year.
“We anticipate rents to be competitive and we are confident the demand for rooms in this unique location will be strong.”
Alumno estimate that the project will bring around 25 jobs to the town. The building also includes a new children’s nursery to replace the existing Wonder Years.
This will give children access to a natural outdoor area, including a vegetable garden, greenhouse and wildlife area.
Meanwhile, the grounds of the development aim to enhance the public open space on the beachfront, with landscaped grassed areas and a new piece of public art.
St Andrews Labour councillor Brian Thomson has welcomed the approval.
He said: “I was, unfortunately, unable to take part in the determination of the planning application as I’m a trustee of the St Andrews Harbour Trust.
“Discussions had taken place, without my knowledge, between other trustees and the applicant, so I had to declare an interest.
“I am, however, pleased the application was approved, as it will hopefully contribute towards tackling the shortage of purpose-built student accommodation in St Andrews.
“I had previously voted against a previous, similar application by the same applicant, mainly on the grounds I felt the proposed design was inappropriate for the location.
“The applicant, however, has gone to some lengths to rethink the scheme and I believe the revised proposal to be of a high-quality design that will fit in well with the location, as well as retaining some high quality open space that the public will have access to.”
Mr Thomson said that it was “patently obvious” there is a shortage of purpose-built student accommodation in St Andrews, with many students now living in private rented housing outwith the town centre, particularly in former council housing.
He added: “This has had a hugely negative impact on the availability of affordable housing for local people and as has been said often before it has forced people to look further afield for housing.”
The university’s Centre for Housing Research recently published a report on the impacts of university-led growth on the rental housing market within North-East Fife.
It said for those on lower incomes “the story of the last decade has been growing displacement into poorer homes and remoter locations”.
The report also suggests the university could take some pressure off the St Andrews rental housing market by developing new halls of residence of up to 200 spaces.