Urbanest has been given planning approval for its 897-bedroom purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in Vauxhall, South London. Following the unveiling of the scheme earlier this year, Lambeth Council’s Planning Applications Committee gave the Vauxhall development the green light following a meeting last week.
The plans will see land at 36-46 Albert Embankment redeveloped to make way for two connected 30-storey and 27-storey towers consisting of 769 student rooms and 897 bedrooms.
Urbanest also plans to build a café and a cultural space and will refurbish and carry out a two-storey roof extension to Vintage House, a four-storey office building, which is also located on the site.
“As [University College London] has made clear, the shortage of student accommodation in London is now so acute that they’ve had to withdraw the guarantee of an offer of a bed for first year students. Our scheme will deliver 769 PBSA bedrooms that will help to alleviate this shortage.
“We are committed to beginning construction work as soon as possible, our design team is fully mobilised on the detailed design of the building and we already have our main contractor partner on board.
“This is a scheme that delivers for students, for Lambeth, and for the local community. With your support, we’re ready to move forward and begin delivery later this year.”
Johnny Manns, Chief Investment Officer, Urbanest UK
Urbanest initially proposed 35% of the student accommodation to be affordable, however this has since been reduced to 20%. Urbanest is set to make a financial contribution of £8.02m, which will go towards building affordable housing in the borough and is equivalent to the 15% of affordable student accommodation that has been reduced from the scheme.
