Plans for £25m student village

Sunday 26th August 2007, 12:38AM BST.

University of Wolverhampton entranceA £25 million student village is set to be built in Wolverhampton, revolutionising university accommodation in the city.

Three blocks of 151 flats are set to be created.

They will be built on land bordered by Wednesfield Road, Culwell Street and Lock Street. The development will be opposite the multi-million pound leisure, retail and residential complex on the site of the historic Low Level station and will revitalise the empty land.

University accommodation firm Victoria Hall is behind the scheme and bosses said today that the plan would transform student living in Wolverhampton.

Each room will have en-suite bathrooms, broadband internet access and Sky television. There will also be a gym and other communal areas.

Chief executive officer at London-based Victoria Hall Bob Crompton said: “There is a chronic shortage of student accommodation in Wolverhampton and this is just what the city needs.

“We carried out research with students in Wolverhampton about what their needs were and this is what we came up with.

“The site is near to the city centre and the university and importantly for students, close to the railway station.

“It will complement the nearby Low Level station development and the forthcoming railway station expansion. We intend to bring a vibrancy into the city and the university.”

A planning application has been lodged with Wolverhampton City Council and will take several months to be processed.

The University of Wolverhampton has several blocks of student halls, but thousands live in private houses, particularly in the Whitmore Reans and Penn Fields areas.

Figures out earlier this year show rents for student houses in the city are the third lowest in the country and almost £20 a week below the national average.

It is several years since new accommodation was built in Wolverhampton but the university has invested nearly £10 million in developing a new student village at Walsall Campus containing 340 new high-quality en-suite study bedrooms.

Roger Williams, director of facilities at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “We are not involved with the proposal, it is independent of the university. However, we are aware of the application.”


  1. 1
    anon1

    errr and where do they think students will get the money from to pay the rent?

    Report abuse

  2. 2
    Neil

    Hopefully the students will take out loans and spend lots more money in the city centre making it young and vibrant with lots of COOL bars and places to hang out

    Report abuse

  3. 3
    robert williams

    Not the best position for a student village with the railway line on the doorstep! Not all students play loud music 24 hours a day, so I hope the buildings are sound proofed, mind you it will make catching a train a doddle, no need to go to the station, just climb on the roof!

    Report abuse

  4. 4
    tim

    Yea great place train station one side main road the next, abandoned factory’s the other I can imagine the view now.. And the club just under the bridge that’s open till 4am joy for some. I would love to know who says student accommodation is cheap in wolves, maybe compared to Birmingham and London. But we pay lots for a room in a shared house no net, that’s all extra.

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