Developer’s Plan for Temporary Student Flat Rentals Rejected Due to Parking Shortage

Proposals from a developer to temporarily lease student apartments as serviced accommodation have been turned down, citing an insufficient number of car parking facilities. Construction delays resulted in Deakin’s Yard, previously identified as the Sky Building, located in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, not being finished before the commencement of the present academic year. Integritas Property Group, the developer, had sought authorization to utilize a section of the structure from January through September, prior to the scheduled student occupancy. The property provides only 19 off-street parking spots, and the council indicated that 273 spaces would have been necessary if every unit were to be occupied. The original project for student accommodation had previously gained approval on appeal, despite a deficit of 49 parking spaces. Initially, the developer had suggested temporarily renting all 273 flats, but subsequently pursued a revised proposal, which involved offering only 68 rooms as serviced accommodation until September 2025. This revised arrangement would have resulted in the identical parking shortfall as outlined in their already approved plans. Nevertheless, councillors expressed dissatisfaction with the temporary proposals this week and cast votes to reject them. Councillor Gill Heesom stated, “I refused this application in 2017 because of the parking issue, I still don’t agree with this.” She further commented, “If I was having a serviced flat and I was a professional, I would want to bring my car with me.” Council members received a caution that declining the temporary application based on parking concerns might be perceived as unreasonable, given the existing parking space deficit in the approved development. Despite this, the planning committee proceeded to vote unanimously against the plans. This report was compiled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, an entity that covers local government bodies and other public service entities. For further updates, follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the material found on external websites. Information regarding our policy on external linking is available.