By John Baron
Five buildings at the former Kirkstall Brewery student residences could become private residential dwellings, if plans to change their use are approved by Leeds City Council.
Proposals by student accommodation specialists Cloverco Ltd would see empty student flats turned into 151 private residences at Monkwood House, Oak House, Graham House, Polar/Spring House and Grove Olive Elsworth House residences.
The development would be served with 63 car parking spaces, with access via the existing gated site entrance off Broad Lane.
A planning statement submitted with the application stated: “The development is not considered to be harmful to the character and appearance of the area, nor would it have a harmful impact on highway safety, subject to the aforementioned conditions/mitigation.
“The development provides additional housing, thus contributing to wider housing delivery in general which weighs heavily in the balance of considerations.
“The scheme therefore provides much-needed housing within an established residential area whilst ensuring a viable, long term use for a number of large buildings.”
The plans can viewed in full here.
Leeds City Council’s Children and Families department and student accommodation providers Cloverco Limited last year received planning permission to turn empty student accommodation at the site into accommodation for care leavers and homeless families.
Those plans affect Abbey House, Walker House, Musgrave House, Canal House and The Maltings residences.
WLD reported last month that council chiefs made a temporary tree preservation order permanent to prevent further tree felling at the site.
Background
The brewery complex was originally closed in 1983, bringing to an end a 150-year tradition of brewing in the buildings.
The site stood empty and unused until it the late 1990s when it became Kirkstall Brewery Student Village, part of Leeds Metropolitan University (Leeds Beckett University, as it’s now known).
The complex had been put up for sale in 2021. It features 828 student beds across 16 buildings, but its occupancy has steadily decreased as more students make use of city centre accommodation.
- Read WLD’s previous coverage of the Broad Lane site here.
To clarify, the plans are to convert a much larger number of student flats into 151 private dwellings. It looks like a 1-bedroom apartment takes the space of 4 or 5 student flats.
Turning disused student flats into actually apartments for people is a great idea.
There’s loads in the city centre, considering a lot of them are empty half the year I always think those a couple of those student high rises could be converated to council flats.