The world-famous London area where a quarter of residents are set to be students by 2028

"The combination of a significant slowing of residential house building and an influx of new student accommodation in a North London borough risks creating an unbalanced community, the local authority has warned. Brent Council is proposing a pause on all new purpose built student accommodation (PBSA), particularly in Wembley, due to fears it will inhibit its plan to address local housing shortages and no longer provide a balanced and mixed community."

"The development of new residential housing has drastically reduced over recent years in favour of PBSA, largely due to factors such as rising construction costs, availability of materials and building safety issues. If the current trend continues, the council estimates that, by 2028, students would account for more than a quarter of Wembley's population. The need for affordable and family-sized homes in the borough has become urgent in the last couple of years, according to the council."

"During this time, housing delivery has slowed significantly, with just 656 of the 2,325 required homes between 2023 and 2024 actually delivered despite over 8,000 homes having planning permission. Instead, investor interest has increased in student accommodation, with PBSA also being pushed forward on many sites previously permitted for conventional housing development. Brent has only one higher education campus in the borough the University of Westminster at Northwick Park, which has 150 student bed spaces."

Brent Council proposes pausing new purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), particularly in Wembley, to protect plans for balanced communities and local housing supply. Residential housing delivery has fallen sharply amid rising construction costs, material shortages and building safety issues, while investor interest has shifted toward PBSA and student beds on sites previously intended for housing. If current trends persist, students could be more than a quarter of Wembley's population by 2028. Homelessness presentations have risen 23% to about 140 households a week, with over half placed in temporary accommodation. Thousands of PBSA units are planned or underway, while required family and affordable homes remain undelivered.

Read at www.standard.co.uk