Update on plans for Birmingham student block in historic area that’s changing ‘with some pace’

Plans for a student accommodation block in a Birmingham area that’s changing “with some pace” are set to be considered by the council again.

The student block would provide 317 bedspaces in total alongside other facilities such as communal space/games room, laundry and gym.

A council officer’s report said courtyards would provide some outdoor amenity space along with roof gardens.

The plans were previously recommended for approval but a decision on them was deferred at a planning committee meeting earlier this year.

At the time, Coun David Barker said more information was needed to make an “informed decision” about whether it was the right location for student accommodation.

“We need to look back at this and get some up to date figures about what is needed with students,” Coun Jane Jones added during the meeting.

The committee deferred the application to wait for more data before making a decision.

In an update issued ahead of next week’s planning meeting, council officers said the most recent data available on purpose-built student accommodation shows a “clear need” for the proposed development.

It has therefore been recommended for approval again, subject to conditions.

The update added: “The applicant has asked that members be made aware of the immense difficulties caused by the delay in determining this application to both the funding and the agreement with the contractor.

“In the event of approval, the applicant was targeting September 2026 for completion and first occupancy but that deadline has now been missed.

“It is requested that the application be determined without further delay.”

The report published earlier this year also highlighted that local businesses had raised concerns over the “encroachment of residential uses” into an industrial area.

Birmingham’s Gun Quarter was previously the centre of the world’s gun-manufacturing industry – but the report noted that the area’s character was changing with “some pace”.

According to the report, the site of the proposed development falls within the ‘Gun Quarter Growth Zone’ identified in the Central Birmingham Framework 2045.

The ambitious strategy, which sets out the ways the city could transform over the next 20 years, says the northern quarters of Central Birmingham hold “great potential”.

“There continues to be a need to protect viable businesses and employment generating uses in the Gun Quarter but balanced with the delivery of housing growth,” the report went on to say.

It said existing businesses should not have “unreasonable restrictions” placed on them as a result of development permitted after they were established.

The report added that the government’s planning policies also required new development to be “integrated effectively” with existing businesses.

On why the proposals had been recommended for approval, the report said they have an “architectural approach which would accord with that of this changing area”.

It acknowledged the development would cause some harm, such as the loss of a non-designated heritage asset.

“Weighing the benefits and harms, I conclude that, on balance, the application should be approved,” it concluded.

The application will be considered by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee on Thursday, November 28.