Higher education driving change

A maturing student residential offering with significant economic impact 

There has been much talk of the surge Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA). In 2015 there were questions as to whether PBSA would even happen in Belfast. For students, the accommodation offer certainly was more dependent on relatively limited university-owned halls complemented by private sector rental houses often heavily focused in south Belfast areas including the Holylands and Lisburn Road. The Ulster University campus development on York Street and an increasing number of international students at both Queen’s University and Ulster University accelerated the need to provide a new accommodation mix.

While there has been some public concern as to “yet another student accommodation block”, the PBSA developments have undoubtedly proved popular with students and have added to the strength of Belfast as an attractive destination for higher and further education. Indeed, 65% of students applying to university for the first time said that the availability of accommodation had influenced their decision on where to apply. In Belfast there is an improving geographic spread from the Ulster campus to the Queen’s campus with plenty of sites dotted in-between, throughout the city centre. There is a price spectrum spreading from approximately £100 per week to £300 per week in certain PBSA suites. With domestic students struggling with the increasing cost of living and limitations to their annual maintenance loan, it is unsurprising that the accommodation at the upper end of the price spectrum is primarily taken up by international students. This group are important for more than just PBSA, as collectively international students have provided a £1bn boom to the Northern Ireland economy. 

Supply, supply, supply

On the supply side, over 6,300 student bedrooms have been provided through 14 PBSA developments since 2016. Currently, there are over 1,200 rooms under development across Donegall Street near the Ulster University campus, at the QUB Catholic Chaplaincy and QUB’s Passivehaus standard accommodation on the Dublin Road. There are another 1,800 rooms in developments that have received planning permission and 155 family apartments and single studios to be developed by QUB on Laganbank Road aimed at staff and post-graduates. A further c.2,400 student rooms are at pre-planning stages.

With three new starts comprising over 1,200 rooms under construction and over 4,000 at the planning or pre-planning stage, there is no evidence of a slowdown in the PBSA sector. 

A changing context? 

At the UK level, visa data suggests a drop in student applications after years of increases. Applications from January to July 2024 were 16% lower than the same period in 2023. This decline, if continued, could result in 60,000 fewer students attending UK universities. This is something that could impact Belfast.

At the start of November 2024 (well into the first term of the academic year) our team looked at a sample of eight PBSAs to see what was still available. One was completely sold out, two had very limited availability, whilst five had some availability across various room types.

Is it now appropriate to ask the question as to what the optimum level of provision will be?  We know supply is increasing and there could well be 10,000 PBSA student rooms in three to four years’ time. There is a student population of over 40,000 across Queen’s and Ulster in Belfast (over 50,000 if including Belfast Metropolitan College). So, there is good headroom, however, the anecdote of some PBSA providers not having to market too hard in recent years will most likely change.

Building leading edge Research and Development capabilities

With the survey recording one million sq. ft. of higher education space delivered in 2022 and 2023 across the new Ulster University campus, Riddell Hall and the Student Centre at Queens, the sector will continue to play a key role in the city centre development with Belfast Region City Deal-supported education and innovation facilities. Some, while falling outside the city centre, support key industries for the city. For example, the completed Studio Ulster development on the North Foreshore in the Belfast Harbour estate.

Within the Crane Survey boundary, iREACH Health is a £62m integrated clinical research centre led by Queen’s University Belfast in partnership with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and HSC Research and Development. Site preparations are underway and the construction is to commence in early 2025 on two adjacent sites sandwiched between Belfast City Hospital and Queen’s. A second development, this one in Titanic Quarter, is Momentum One Zero. This will expand facilities at the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) building on research and capability in cybersecurity, wireless innovation and AI. 

A growing presence

The role of higher education has long been a critical driver for the city of Belfast. This has only been boosted by the enhanced Ulster University campus. Alongside the impact of students and staff and their networks, knowledge and skills, the physical footprint in terms of research and teaching facilities and student accommodation is ever more visible within the city centre.