By Jack Stride

Last updated at 13:13, Saturday, 27 October 2012

A 200-room halls of residence may be forced to close because of an over supply of student accommodation.

Rooms empty: Mike Muir, above, chief executive of Impact Housing which runs The Old Brewery student residences in Caldewgate, left

The Old Brewery in Carlisle, run by Impact Housing Association, has managed to fill just 117 of its rooms this year and fears it is losing out to new developments in nearby Denton Holme.

It is a situation in sharp contrast to last year when there was a desperate scramble to find accommodation for a bumper intake at the University of Cumbria ahead of the introduction of tuition fees.

Students had to stay in hotels and the University recruited new landlords and bought flats to accommodate the highest number of students the city has ever seen.

But now numbers are dipping and the first phase of a “student village” has come on stream in Denton Holme, leaving Impact Housing fearing for the future of its Old Brewery complex.

Chief executive Mike Muir said: “We have grave doubts as to whether our scheme will survive in the medium term. Border Homes has just built phase one of their Denton Holme scheme and brought another 250 places into the system, at a time when overall Carlisle student numbers are not increasing.

“The university seem to be preferentially referring students to the Border scheme and then, when full, on to their own two schemes which account for a further 200 beds.”

University officials have denied that private halls are recommended in order of preference.

Border has a second phase to their Denton Holme development – on the site of the former Kangol factory on Norfolk Street – in the pipeline, which would add a further 250 rooms.

The university operates an overflow system for student accommodation in which university-owned halls are filled first before students are referred to private letters.

The Old Brewery is losing out in the process despite being £22 a week cheaper and next door to the newly opened Sainsbury’s supermarket.

Mr Muir is disappointed by the changing relationship with the university.

He said: “It has downgraded our status which means that this year we’ve mainly got the overflow from the other three schemes.

“This is disappointing in that in the past we have worked collaboratively. They made it clear to us at a meeting a couple of weeks ago that they regard their relationship with as a purely commercial one, alongside other private landlords.

“They also made it clear that they were encouraging Border to start work on the next phase of their development, which would bring another 250 places into the system.”

University accommodation officer Jan Carruthers said the Old Brewery acted as a cheaper alternative to the new Denton Holme scheme.

Spokeswoman Tracy Calvert added: “Impact have never had a contract with the university; the Old Brewery halls acts only as an alternative choice for students.'

“University halls are always the preferred choice for students coming to the city and are filled first.

“The university does not recommend private halls in a certain order but refer students looking for accommodation to private letting schemes such as Denton Holme, The Old Brewery, U Student and Stanley Halls.”

First published at 13:09, Saturday, 27 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk