Work starts on £36 million student accommodation complex in Birmingham

Work has begun on a new £36m development of student accommodation at Bagot Street in Birmingham.

Cosmopolitan Student Homes and Iliad Group are jointly developing the 656-bed project on a cleared site close to the city’s Aston University.

Completion is expected by July 2011, ready for letting the following September to local university students from across the city’s two universities.

The accommodation will be built across two blocks and will boast larger than average room sizes, high specification finishing to all private and communal areas, 24 hour security and a landscaped inner courtyard.

All of the study bedrooms will incorporate Voiceover IP which enables telephone, TV reception and internet access to be provided over one cable.

The developers are aiming for a ‘Very Good’ Eco-Homes rating and are hoping to include an energy efficient combined heat and power plant within the building to help minimise fuel costs and CO2 emissions.

Funding has been secured for the project from Barclays Bank and the building will be jointly owned by Iliad Group and Cosmopolitan Student Homes.

Liverpool-based Cosmopolitan Student Homes has been providing student housing since 1969 and currently manages some 3,700 units of accommodation in Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Salford, Bradford and Stratford-upon-Avon. It is part of the not-for-profit Cosmopolitan Housing Group, which re-invests any surpluses generated into its mainstream social housing provision.

Geoff Redhead, Cosmopolitan Group Chief Executive, said “We are very excited and pleased to have started on site at Bagot Street, our second student homes development in the Midlands.

“The partnership we have formed with Iliad is bringing major private investment into this area of the city at a time when many other building projects have been badly hit by the recession.

“It’s good news for everyone with an interest in the continued regeneration of Birmingham and of course for the students themselves who will benefit from a really impressive, but affordable place to live.”

Tim Molloy, Finance Director of Iliad Group said: “Iliad Group are pleased to have provided the equity and arranged senior debt for this project and look forward to a successful and expanding partnership with Cosmopolitan Student Homes.