Street’s £60m refit for high-quality student properties
A STREET in Hull has had a £60m makeover to provide students with high-quality rental properties – including “sober” options for non-drinkers, en-suite bathrooms and large fridge freezers.
The “University Quarter” – the result of a partnership between a property firm, Kexgill, and the University of Hull – was officially launched on Cranbrook Avenue by the university’s chief finance officer Stephen Willis.
Around three-quarters of the properties have en-suite bathrooms, and there is CCTV, 24/7 staff support and regular security patrols. There are also staff to look after the bins.
Students, who come from many different nationalities and religions, who do not drink or want to live in a quiet house can be paired up with like-minded individuals.
Richard Stott, managing director of Kexgill, said the firm was spending up to £60,000 renovating each of 200 Edwardian properties, which they had acquired from the University in the Cranbrook Avenue area.
They also own two halls of residence, Cranbrook Court and The Trees, with around 350 bedrooms in total.
“We have done over 100 houses already,” he said. “We are working really hard on them and have 50 local builders in every day.
“An en-suite is an expectation and the best internet is a given and all of the refurbished properties have American fridge freezers.
“We are doing sober and quiet accommodation so if you don’t want to get drunk every night, we are putting like-minded people together. That can suit different types of religion. “There’s less partying (these days). Students are more serious, and I think that is because of the debt.
“We have been through a recession and there’s an aspiration to get a first because that makes you stand out in the jobs queue.” Meanwhile, the first students are moving into new housing built on the University’s grounds by UPP.
The first 478 rooms have now been completed in what will eventually be a nine-block development, of 1,462 single rooms and apartments. The construction value of the project is £97m, while the overall deal is worth £155m – boosting UPP’s portfolio with over 37,000 rooms in operation, under construction or at preferred bidder stage through long-term partnerships with 16 leading universities.