Changing student geographies in the UK Dr Darren

Changing student geographies in the UK Dr Darren P. Smith Reader in Geography Loughborough University Bricks, Bed and Higher Education, SRHE, London 18 October 2012 Researchers: Alexis Alamel, Stacey Balsdon, Hao Gu & Chloe Kinton

Structure • Background / processes of studentification • Mid-1990 s – Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) • Mid-2000 s – Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) • 2010 s – segregated ‘student-only’ housing areas?

Definition of studentification • ‘Urban changes tied to growing concentrations of university students’ • ‘[Studentification is] the social and environmental changes caused by very large numbers of students living in particular areas of a town or city’ (Macmillan English Dictionary, 2003).

Smith (2000) • Social: the replacement and / or displacement of established residents with a transient, generally young and single, social grouping • Cultural: the growth of concentrations of young people with shared cultures and lifestyles, and consumption practices, which in turn results in the increase of certain types of retail and service infrastructure • Physical: the downgrading or upgrading of the physical environment, depending on the local context • Economic: the inflation of property prices and a change in the balance of the housing stock resulting in neighbourhoods becoming dominated by private rented accommodation and houses in multiple occupation, and decreasing levels of owneroccupation.

Student populations – 2. 4 million students in higher education in the UK (HESA, 2010). – The scale of the internal migration of students at the onset and end of the academic year has been metaphorically compared to the annual de/re-population of Birmingham (Smith, 2009).

Origins of my work in Leeds (1999)

Academic interest • Societal trends: – Socio-spatial segregation – Population transience – Mobility – Higher-density living – Household restructuring – ‘solo’ living/friendships – Marginalisation – Social conflicts due to different lifestyles

1. Studentification in the 1990 s • Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) – Conversion of dwelling housing (Use Classes Order = C 3) – No planning permission was required More socially-mixed communities within some established neighbourhoods?

HMO-dominated neighourhoods 1. Higher levels of population transience – Less attachment and sense of belonging – – – 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Breakdown of community cohesion Lower levels of social capital / electoral voting Fragmentation of sense of community Increased density of population – Associated environmental challenges (e. g. refuse, litter, flytipping, car parking, noise) Lack of affordable housing Dilapidation of housing stock Higher levels of crime Rise of uni-dimensional / mono population structures – 7. 8. Loss of social mixing Increased resources required for day-to-day management Contradiction of balanced and sustainable communities • Closure of schools, nurseries, etc

• Percentage in PRS (1991 -2001)

Data limitations (2007) • England (390, 315) • London (125, 610) - unique processes? • Outside London (264, 705) • 61 x University towns and cities (157, 252) • 8 x Coastal university towns (32, 262) – Brighton (15, 000) • 26 x Coastal towns (34, 919) • 226 x Other LAs (40, 272)

Total HMO

Studentification? • 71. 2% of HMO outside London is found in university towns – – – – Liverpool (13, 000) Manchester (9, 155) Leeds (7, 622) Southampton (7, 600) Bristol (7, 500) Nottingham (6, 900) Sheffield (6, 881) Newcastle upon Tyne (6, 500)

HMOH Index

HMOH index • Quartiles (4=highest, 1=lowest) • 95. 1% of university towns in quartiles 3 and 4 • 100% of coastal university towns in quartiles 3 and 4 • 73. 1% of coastal towns in quartiles 3 and 4 • 66. 8% of other LAs in quartiles 1 and 2 • 33. 2% of other LAs in quartiles 3 and 4

National politics – mid-2000 s • Agreement in national politics that studentification had led to unbalanced local communities and neighbourhoods • BUT – there is no need to change planning and housing legislation

National Politics – National HMO Lobby • ‘The Lobby therefore opposes concentrations of HMOs in general (as a unique threat to the sustainability of communities) and studentification in particular (as the principal cause and effect of HMO concentrations). ’ – APPG for Balanced and Sustainable Communities • ‘Whilst the group welcomes the contribution students make to towns and cities in the UK, it is concerned about the impact of an imbalance between student and local residents’ housing. The group therefore supports: changes in planning law to possibly control the amount of student housing in particular streets and thus ensure that our communities are balanced; a requirement to license all private rented accommodation, including student housing; adequate provision for family housing in all communities. ’

2. The rise of PBSA – Studentification: A Guide To Opportunities, Challenges and Practices • Commissioned / published by: Universities. UK/SCOP • Funded by: Df. ES & ODPM, LGA • Launched: UUK conference January 2006 • Parliamentary launch: 27 th June 2006 – Remit: • To scope and assess the scale and nature of the challenges associated with large concentrations of student populations • To identify current practice to address these [high concentrations of students] through consideration of some case studies

The policy response to the Studentification Guide – Dispersal of students away from existing overconcentrations in HMO – Halting the formation of new over-concentrations of students in HMO – Via the promotion of PBSA – Via the refurbishment / upgrade of university-maintained / managed accommodation (UPP) – Via the better management of HMO (Unipol) – PBSA=reclaim HMO for ‘family housing’ – PBSA=facilitate ‘mixed’, ‘balanced’ & sustainable communities

Purpose-built student accommodation The solution to: • enhance the quality and management of student accommodation • regulate the behaviour of some (anti-social) students • solve refuse collection issues, etc • (re)turn student areas to family housing • control student leisure & recreation spaces (i. e. bars) • reduce use of private vehicles and on-street parking • circulate information leaflets and enhance communication with students about behaviour, etc • Increase electoral voting, etc. . .

Nottingham – Building Balanced Communities Supplementary Planning Document (March, 2007) • Total full-time students requiring accomm. =39, 724 • Students with term-time address in city=32, 604 • PBSA = 23, 408 • Remaining students= 9, 165

Newcastle • ‘The Newcastle Housing Strategy identifies the need for approximately 6, 000 additional units in the city by 2011 (as much as possible in purpose and managed accommodation)’ (SHG, March, 2007) • Interim Planning Guidance on Purpose Built Student Housing (November, 2007) – ‘Taking into account all the sites assessed it estimated that they jointly have the potential capacity for in the region of 13, 604 to 16, 420 additional bed spaces’ (p. 56).

Leeds • H 15 - ASHORE > Areas of Housing Mix • City Heights (5, 000+ bed spaces) • Leeds City-centre sites (Unite Plaza, Opal 3, etc)

City Heights (2006)

Opal 1 and 2

Concept Place and beyond

Plaza

Opal 3

21 st Century Student Living

The commodification of studenthood and student living? e. g. Chatterton (2010) Hubbard (2008, 2009) Holloway et al (2010)

Hassle-free residential searching

Choice of locations

Choice of accommodation

Pool of peers for socialising/friendships

Ensuite / Privacy

‘Easy living’

‘Student Living Made Easy’

Home from home comforts

Good landlord and a responsive service

Limited commuting costs and time

Safety and Security

Gates and fences

Gates and fences

Reception

Modern living

City-centre living - Nottingham

Services and latest technology

Nintendo Wii

Lifestyle packages. . And savings

Leisure Clubs

Fun Fun

Fun ‘n’ Frolics

What do students NOT get in PBSA? – Independence and the path to adulthood – Interactions with established residential communities / neighbours – Experience in the wider housing market and interactions with institutions (letting agents) – Relatively low weekly rents – Higher levels of choice – The ‘proper’ student experience – Flexible living

New ghettos ‘in the sky’ – ‘balanced communities’?

‘Gated-communities’ and ‘divided societies’?

Brown-field sites

PBSA and urban regeneration

Segmentation of student housing market (2009) • 51% shared student houses • 22% university maintained • 9% commercial Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) • 18% parental / guardian home • This is being reconfigured!

Current trends? • The restructuring of the student housing market

1. Production of student HMO has halted • Scale and pace of the process of landlords and investors acquiring and converting family housing to private rented student housing has stagnated (Dowle, 2008) – The effects of the credit crunch – Buy-to-let products (Shaw, 2009). – More stringent borrowing requirements for obtaining buy-to-let mortgages

2. Destudentification • Decrease of students and student landlords in some areas – empty homes and voids – Small-scale landlords, many with buy-to-let mortgages exiting the private rented market – High number of buy-to-let repossessions – Bankruptcy of some landlords and organisations (Blakey, 2009). – Increasing levels of rent arrears. – Falling property prices (Atherton, 2008)

3. The use / effects of Article 4 Directions (A 4 D)? • New HMO legislation (Coalition govt. ) – Removal of general permitted development rights for conversion of dwelling house to HMO in areas with problematic over-concentrations of HMO – Notice period for designation of A 4 D – will landlords and investors ‘rush into these areas’ and produce HMO?

Article 4 / HMO Policy • • • • • Barking & Dagenham Basingstoke Bath Birmingham Bournemouth Brighton Bristol Canterbury Charnwood Durham Exeter Hastings Hull Leeds Lincolnshire Manchester Milton Keynes • • • • • Newcastle Northampton Nottingham Oxford Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Preston Reading Richmond upon Thames Sheffield Southampton Thanet (Margate) Warwick Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire (Ormskirk and Aughton) York

5. New populations in studentified areas? • Reorientation of student landlords to target other social groups (e. g. professional lets) as prospective tenants. • Students are likely to experience intense competition from other social groups (i. e. first -time buyers) for accommodation in private rented housing. • +800, 000 HMOs (CLG, 2011)

6. Slow-down of PBSA • Prior to the economic recession - ‘potentially a further 78, 000 bed spaces could be delivered to the market over the next six years’. • 36% growth of the PBSA sector witnessed between 20052008 (King Sturge, 2008) • Downturn in the delivery of future developments of largescale, PBSA. – general reluctance of financial institutions to provide capital for PBSA – unfavourable, lower loan-to-value ratios, down from 85 -95% to 60 -65% (Knight Frank, 2010). • Some commercial providers have recently disposed of existing PBSA assets to raise development capital.

7. Focused development of PBSA • Commercial Director of Derwent Living: – ‘We have targeted our growth plan around where the main student demand is: either the capital [London] or the Russell group [of elite research universities]’ (quoted in Cooper, 2009).

8. PBSA in London • Perceived shortfall of approximately 100, 000 student bed spaces (Knight Frank, 2009; London Evening Standard, 10/12/08). • Knight Frank (2010) - only 3% of full-time students in London have access to PBSA

9. On-campus ‘student villages’ • UPP (University Partnerships Programme), self-defined as ‘the UK’s leading provider of on-campus managed university accommodation’, which has, to date, formed alliances with 12 universities • Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) 2007/08 database on the standards of university estates, one in ten universities have at least 10% of their estate identified as inoperable and at serious risk of breakdown (Shepherd, 2010). • £ 215 million Aston Student Village project in Birmingham, £ 40 million Listerhills Student Village project in Bradford, and the £ 30 million Newcastle Student Village • 48, 117 bed spaces in student villages in GB

Listerhills

10. Recruitment and retention • College and University Business Officers (CUBO) (2008): – ‘Accommodation is a major factor influencing the student living experience…. action in this area is vital for universities looking to improve the student living experience’ (p. 8).

Conclusion • Students are increasingly (socio-spatially) segregated from other social groups • Lower proportions of students within established residential communities – less social-mixing? • Issues of studentification persist (noise nuisance on pedestrian routes) • Lower levels of social interaction between students and other social groups – what does this mean for society?