Comment

Representation ID: 22155

Received: 16/03/2020

Respondent: Pigeon Investment Management Ltd

Agent: Pegasus Group

The housing need of students
3.20 The standard method is informed by the 2014-based household projections which assume that the five-year migration trends which were experienced in the period 2009-14 will be maintained. The Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) identified that University of East Anglia (UEA) had 16,640 students and the Norwich University of the Arts had 1,485 students in 2009 providing a total of 18,125, but that this had increased to 18,140 by 2014 with 16,265 at UEA and 1,875 at the University of Arts. The 2014-based projections which inform the standard method therefore assumes that the student population will increase by 15 people over five years or 3 per annum.
3.21 Paragraph 45 of the Draft Local Plan however indicates that the Universities in Norwich are expected to expand. In particular, the University of East Anglia (UEA) has announced plans to increase its students from 15,000 to 18,000 in the next decade, an increase of 300 students per annum.3.22 The increased migration of 297 students per annum3, even assuming that the student population of the University of the Arts remains constant, are not taken into account in the projections.
3.23 These additional students at UEA will clearly have an impact on the housing need in Greater Norwich which is not taken into account within the standard method. Either these will generate a need for an additional 2,970 bedspaces which is equivalent to 1,042 houses or if these students are accommodated in the housing stock it will be necessary to deliver an additional 1,042 homes to accommodate them. It will be necessary to deliver such accommodation to meet the objectively assessed needs and to accord with the Vision of the GNLP.
3.24 Once the needs of these additional students are taken into account this would increase the minimum local housing need from either 41,379 or 41,361 to either 42,421 or 42,403 homes over the plan period. This broadly accords with the 42,260 homes necessary to accord with the City Deal.