Around 300 student flats could be built as part of Deptford Albany Theatre revamp
Plans to renovate the Albany Theatre in Deptford may see 300 student flats built to fund the project.
The theatre has partnered with Aviva with potential student rooms on Idonia Road. A new café is proposed.
Opening in 1982 the theatre is a low-rise structure just off Deptford High Street and seconds from Deptford station. London Bridge can be reached in just six minutes with university campuses beside the station. Goldsmith’s, Trinity Laban and the University of Greenwich are also nearby. A specific link-up with Trinity Laban is mentioned.
One of many
If student rooms are to go ahead they’d join many thousands of others underway or proposed in the area.
A short distance away is a tower beside Deptford Creek in Greenwich which has now commenced.
This block will see 414 student rooms.
A little further south over in Deptford is a warehouse which saw residential flats approved but never built.
The Sun Wharf site has now switched to student rooms with a total of 641 rooms approved.
Further south of that, but not too far away, sits the former Lewisham College site.
That has plans for student rooms.
Sites to the east in Greenwich with approved student housing include a tower beside the o2, a plot on the peninsula off Millennium Way which recently saw student flat numbers increased and a former Speedy Hire site.
A further 231 rooms have been approved on Creekside. Yet more are proposed at Scott House further north, with 502 rooms there.
At a time of falling birth rates, closing primary schools and multiple attempts to reduce the number of foreign students, it feels a weird decision to build more student homes.
Exactly, I thought the same thing!
More high rise blocks which will add to the already high density of people in the borough which have little or no outdoor space/gardens, so people tend to congregate on the streets and are at risk of getting in ASB or be a victim of ASB and crime.
Also, what happens outside of term time? Would the immediate area be deserted and abandoned?
What an absurd comment, surely those people go to parks to relax. You’d rather a city where everyone stays in their own gardens to avoid trouble and ASB?
Obviously the more people who are around and activating a street the safer it will become, especially in a non tourist location.
Students have historically always lived in HMO’s in typically larger victorian properties, by giving them dedicated Student Housing not only do they get better facilities but also a community of other students living side by side.
Falling birth rates and closing primary school has absolutely nothing to do with Student accommodation, these students will be moving from all over the country and the world to study.
It’s not absurd.
Parks used to be places to relax, but I’m not sure if you visited some of the parks on Lewisham and Greenwich, there are increasing levels of ASB.
The streets/pavements in hotspots seems to be too overcrowded to the point it’s uncomfortable to walk around at a relaxed pace .
I believe the international student market will take a hit because of the stricter visa requirements and no longer allowing dependents to come over.
Also the ever increasing costs to live in the UK (ien rent) and decreasing graduate job opportunities (many people who came over to get degrees now work for uber eats and deliveroo), will have an impact on the demand
I used to work for a pathways company that worked with big universities in the UK. I now hear that there is a definite downturn…
I don’t mind purpose built accommodation for students, but it’s the ever over concentration of high rise blocks in Lewisham and Greenwich that are a worry.
The Govt wants to attract 600,000 foreign students by 2030, as the higher fees they pay subsidise our higher education system. As such, the Govt provides incentives to invest in student accommodation, which is very lucrative for developers.
It’s all about money. With so many people living in this country who are desperate for affordable housing, it’s utterly sickening.