Plans lodged to demolish student accommodation site

The university wants to refresh the site at Spital Tongues with "modern accommodation"

A proposal to demolish a major student housing block has been put forward to council chiefs.

Newcastle University announced a £250m plan earlier this year to tear down the Castle Leazes halls of residence and redevelop the area with modern accommodation.

Consultants said the site, which was mostly developed in the 1960s, could "no longer provide a satisfactory level of student accommodation".

The block is due to be closed this summer, at the end of the 2023/24 academic year.

There are 17 accommodation buildings on the Spital Tongues site which have been proposed for demolition, which, if approved, is expected to take about a year.

'Costly to maintain'

Newcastle City Council has been told that work needed to begin on the demolition "as soon as possible", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The buildings at Castle Leazes are of their time and do not provide facilities or spaces which reflect the needs of the modern student," a report from consultants Pegasus Group read.

"The buildings are ‘life-spent’, costly to maintain and also perform poorly in terms of sustainability."

A planning application lodged with the council stated that the university had an “immediate and pressing shortage” of student beds and that a “seamless transition” was required between Castle Leazes being knocked down and its replacement going up, in order to keep up with demand.

Castle Leazes has been the home to tens of thousands of students, providing around 1,250 beds.