Consultations for two new proposed Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) that aim to enhance the quality of student accommodation and advance the city’s carbon reduction goals have started. The consultation launched on 27 August and will run for six weeks.
Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) Supplementary Planning Document
The PBSA Supplementary Planning Document provides guidance to ensure new student flats meet the needs of Nottingham’s students. It gives clear guidelines for developers, ensuring new student accommodations are adaptable and responsive to changing needs.
A number of new PBSA schemes have been completed in the city to accommodate the growing student population. They have also transformed the student housing market. There has been a big rise in students wanting to live in PBSA over private rented housing in local communities.
Most students going into second and third year usually want to share a house with their friends. This leads to groups renting student shared housing on residential streets. This new planning document focuses more on developers replicating that ‘shared housing’ lifestyle. They do this by creating cluster flats, which are flats with multiple bedrooms that friends can share. The plan requires at least 80% of bedspaces in new builds to be cluster flats.
It’s hoped that by promoting more diverse housing options for students, it will encourage more to choose PBSA over housing in residential areas and help balance communities. This aligns with the principles within the Nottingham Student Living Strategy that was adopted in 2023.
The document also provides guidelines and recommendations to create PBSA that enhances the overall student living experience. This includes proposals for minimum room sizes and social spaces.
Reduction of Carbon in New Development Supplementary Planning Document
Reduction of Carbon in New Development Supplementary Planning Document is a planning document that gives detailed guidance on how developers can make their developments more sustainable, reducing carbon both in the construction, design and use of the buildings and focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy use, and sustainable construction practices.
The plan provides detailed strategies for reducing carbon emissions in new developments. This aligns with Nottingham City Council’s goal to become the UK’s first carbon-neutral city by 2028. Similarly, Broxtowe Borough has outlined its carbon reduction priorities through the Climate Change and Green Futures Strategy.
The planning documents set out how new developments can meet these requirements through:
- Energy and Carbon Reduction: Strategies include passive design, passive cooling, incorporation of green and blue infrastructure, enhancing building energy efficiency, utilising low-carbon heat sources and technologies, and integrating renewable energy.
- Sustainable Construction: Emphasis is placed on the prudent use of materials, including the reuse and recycling of materials, sustainable material selection, reducing embodied carbon, and promoting building reuse and retrofit.
“These new planning documents aim to set a framework for high-quality, innovative student housing, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable student housing market in Nottingham.
“We are committed to creating environments that enhance the overall student living experience and by providing additional student accommodation, it should allow for more balanced communities to be created within the city.
“The city has ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2028, but we can’t do this on our own. The carbon neutral planning document will help developers to support this ambition, whilst also helping them to reach their own carbon emission reduction targets.
“New developments are a must for a thriving city, but they need to be fit for purpose and sustainable, not just in their construction but in the years to come after they are built. These new planning documents, if given approval, will do just this.”
Cllr Jay Hayes, Portfolio Holder for Planning
