July 18, 2022 2.02 pm This story is over 32 months old

New Lincoln student village given green light

The university claims there are already thousands of unused student rooms
An artist's impression of the housing | Photo: Ashcourt Group

The first phase of a large student village has been given approval for a demolished factory site – despite the University of Lincoln arguing there is already a huge surplus of housing.

The initial stage would be built on the eastern part of the former William Sinclair Holdings site in Lincoln.

23 new three-storey residential apartment buildings will provide accommodation for 310 students off Firth Road.

A later phase could add another 276 bedrooms.

Developer Ashcourt Group hopes that the city centre location, a ten minute walk from campus, will prove attractive to second and third year students who want to live with their friends.

However, the plans met opposition from the University of Lincoln, who said that there is already around 2600 spare beds in the city – enough for the next decade.

How the site would be laid out | Photo: Ashcourt Group

The developer has responded by claiming that the scheme will relieve pressure on Lincoln’s west end, which is “inundated with HMOs and has severely impacted on housing stock in this location”.

It says that the new village will “free up traditional housing stock in areas subject to high concentration of students, allowing families to move into those traditional houses and re-balancing communities.”

The Lincoln Civic Trust also accused the plans of overdeveloping the site, which the developer denies.

The buildings will range from studios to seven bedrooms, with 11 different house styles.

View of the proposed site off Firth Road. | Photo: Daniel Jaines

City of Lincoln Council planning officers have given the plans approval, with work to commence within three years.

The planning application says that if some of the houses are vacant, they could be converted into apartments or offices.

A total of 308 car parking spaces and 84 bike storage spaces will be provided across the full scheme.

The former Ruston Factory was cleared from the site in 2019.

The second phase, for the western half of the site, is set to include plans for three-storey HMOs and seven-storey apartment blocks.