The demand for high-quality student accommodation continues to be one of the most dynamic and fast-growing sectors of the property market. Unused commercial and residential buildings and vacant plots of land in many of the UK’s university cities are being refurbished or replaced with smart new developments with state-of the-art amenities, offering today’s students high quality spaces to both live and study in.

Over the past two years, PBC has worked as Fund Monitoring Surveyor for a large institutional investor who is financing the development of a number of sites across the UK. Having successfully monitored a similar project for this client in Reading, PBC’s Building Consultancy team was retained to act on its behalf in the development of Caradog House in Cardiff and No1 Portsmouth on the south coast.

The Projects

Originally a 1960s office building housing a job centre, Caradog House in the centre of Cardiff is now a modern, spacious 374 bed student accommodation block complete with a gymnasium, cinema room, indoor social and study spaces and an outside amenity space. Located just 100 metres away from the University Campus, Caradog House is perfectly located to cater for the needs of the city’s growing local student population.

No1 Portsmouth is a new-build, 23-storey tower block in the centre of Portsmouth close to the railway terminal. Built on the site of an old hotel that was hit by a bomb in WWII, this new student accommodation block has 576 rooms and shared amenities for leisure and study.

PBC Scope

On both of these projects PBC acted as an independent monitor on behalf of the funders, working closely with the developer, Crown Student Living, contractors Midas Development for Caradog House and Osborne plc for No 1 Portsmouth, reporting monthly on programme cost and quality.

Having developed considerable expertise in this sector of the market, PBC is delighted to be continuing the successful relationship with the client. As a result, in addition to these two flagship developments, PBC is also continuing to monitor ongoing schemes in Norwich and Swansea.