Wates lands £130m student flats hat-trick

Wates has bagged a hat-trick of major student halls projects across the cities of Manchester, Newcastle and York for client Select Property Group.

The contractor will deliver more than 1,700 student beds in total for the developer’s Vita Student brand. All are slated to complete by September next year.

The largest contract, worth £60.2m, will see the construction of 748 beds at one of Manchester’s biggest sites, Circle Square, a former BBC site on Oxford Road.

The second contract, valued at £47.7m, is for Select’s first student halls project in York, a 659-bed project across 15 three and four storey buildings at a 6.3 acre site. This includes the refurbishment of a former convent building and landscaped grounds.

Wates will also construct 331 beds at Select’s second Vita Student development in Newcastle, within a £23.8m ten-storey development at Strawberry Place near St James’ Park.

Select Property Group currently has a 4,500-unit pipeline overall in the north of England, under its Vita Student, CitySuites and Affinity Living brands.

Phil Harrison, Managing Director of Wates Construction Midlands and North, said: “The buoyancy of the private residential market in the North is in part being driven by an increased appetite for premium student accommodation, a demand that Select Property Group is leading the way in addressing.”