Student Accommodation Non-Statutory Planning Guidance

2. Policy Context

Edinburgh’s Development Plan sets out policies which will apply in the assessment of planning applications for PBSA.  The main policies are listed below:

LDP Hou 5 Student Accommodation

Planning permission will be granted for purpose-built student accommodation where:

1. there is good access by public transport and active travel routes to further and higher education institutions,
2. it provides suitable amenity to students, including open space,
3. no more than 10% studio flats are provided and,
4. there will be no adverse impact on the established character of the area

3.195    Purpose-built student accommodation makes a valuable contribution to housing Edinburgh’s many students. Ensuring it is delivered at the right scale and in the right locations is required to balance this with the needs of the existing community and the need for residential dwellings. It is particularly important that the design of purpose-built student accommodation should create safe and pleasant places for occupants, residents and the wider community, create a mix of uses avoiding a single land use and ensure adaptability.

3.196    Larger sites provide an opportunity to balance the mix of land uses and to contribute to delivery of housing. A mix of student accommodation and housing is required on all sites greater than 0.25Ha. Where compatible and appropriate within the site context, at least 50% of the site is provided for housing. The affordable housing policy of 35% will apply. This will not apply in self-contained campus locations. Council Guidance sets out further details.

3.197    To avoid additional pressures on existing local amenities and open space there is a need for purpose-built student accommodation to provide students with high quality living and adequate on-site amenity spaces and communal facilities. Student accommodation is expected to be designed to provide equivalent amenity required for housing. This includes daylight and sunlight, open space, internal space standards and noise. Standards are provided in Council guidance.

3.198    Studio flats can lead to social isolation and in high concentration do not foster healthy student communities. Cluster flat arrangements allow the opportunity for students to interact and improve wellbeing. This policy seeks to provide flexibility for future conversion to other residential uses studio can pose issues for conversion.

3.199    This policy applies to all types of student accommodation developments, including new build, change of use and conversion.

LDP Econ 2 Commercial Development

Proposals for commercial uses within the urban area on sites 0.25 ha or larger, should where compatible and appropriate within the site context, provide at least 50% of the site for housing.

3.247    This policy supports the approach of the plan to create sustainable communities, maximise opportunities for housing and avoid large mono use developments. It applies to development for commercial uses including student housing, retail, leisure, hotels and other commercial development.

LDP Env 2 Co-ordinated Development

Development proposals will be supported in principle if they can demonstrate that: 

• they would not compromise the effective development of adjacent land, or
• they would accord with the comprehensive development and regeneration of a wider area provided for in a master plan, place brief, site brief, and/or development principles approved by the Council.

3.99      The Council encourages a comprehensive approach to redevelopment and regeneration wherever possible, and the preparation of development frameworks, master plans, development briefs or place briefs to identify the full design potential for creating successful places. Piecemeal development is less likely to lead to the creation of well-defined and cohesive networks of streets and spaces. In some cases, it may be necessary for the Council to use its powers of compulsory purchase to assemble a site for development and enable a satisfactory outcome to be achieved.

LDP Env 31 Useable Open Space in New Development*

All proposals containing new- build development (except householder development and housing proposals covered by policy Env 5) shall include the provision of good quality, attractive, useable and where appropriate publicly accessible open space that forms at least 20% of the total site area. Wherever possible, this provision shall take the form of extensions and/or improvements to the green and blue network.**

* This policy ensures that development proposals (other than private and affordable housing development) include appropriate open space provision. This includes specialist housing built for occupation by groups such as students or the elderly. The supporting text for Env 32 also sets out an explanation of how open space should be provided as well as what type of space should be counted as open space, with this addressed further in the Edinburgh Design Guidance and associated appendices.

** A proposal which does not meet the full requirements of this policy on-site may be supported if appropriate provision or financial contribution is made to implement an action which improves park/open space/green network provision in the area (or access to these), with this normally needing to be an identified action in this Plan and/or Open Space Strategy.

LDP Env 33 Amenity

Development will be supported by this policy where it is demonstrated that the amenity of future occupiers of the development and occupiers of neighbouring developments are not adversely affected by ensuring acceptable levels of amenity, particularly in relation to odour, space standards, noise, daylight, sunlight, privacy or immediate outlook.

3.172    This policy protects the amenity of neighbouring and occupiers of proposed buildings as well as public and private amenity spaces. The Edinburgh Design Guidance and associated appendices provides further information on how to ensure proposals provide acceptable levels of amenity for new occupiers and neighbouring developments, including in relation to amenity spaces. Where a proposal may cause some existing or future occupiers to suffer inadequate amenity then further information may be required as necessary to assess whether the proposal complies with this policy and guidance noted above, for example such as daylight/sunlight assessments.

In addition to the policies set out above, proposals for student accommodation should meet with the other relevant policies of the development plan set out in NPF4 which together with the LDP forms the development plan for Edinburgh.