Coventry student flats could be rented to non-students during term-time

Owners of The Residence want to rent the rooms to non-students during term-time

Almost a third of rooms at a student accommodation block could be rented to non-students during term-time, amid a surplus of empty rooms.

Owners of The Residence at St Columbas Close in Coventry want to temporarily let out 30 studios as serviced accommodation.

Planning documents stated student demand had remained "volatile," with vacancies during the academic year.

A planning application has been submitted to Coventry City Council.

According to planning documents, it is the fourth time owners have requested to let the rooms to those not attending university, since the building opened in 2019.

Around 50 of the studio flats had been let out to non-students from December 2019 to mid-2020, with the use extended into mid-2021, due to a lack of tenants following the pandemic.

Thirty vacant rooms were also let to young professionals and city visitors during summer 2022.

Owners of the block are applying to rent the studios out during term-time, due to uncertain student demand.

A statement included in the application stated the war in Ukraine and "delayed withdrawal of coronavirus restrictions in China" had resulted in a "significant dampening" of international student interest.

Allowing different use for three more academic years would allow the student demand to recover, it said.

There was also more accommodation competing for "reduced student tenant demand" within Coventry, including other large-scale blocks that had recently opened, it said.