With news of more student accommodation being developed across Leeds city centre, people have questioned “how many students have we got?”
In the past few weeks we have reported news of the new developments which will be taking place across the city.
This includes a 35-storey tower with over 1,000 apartments that could be built at the Merrion Centre and see the shopping centre’s abandoned old cinema demolished.
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Plans have been approved to transform two historic city centre pubs into 67 student rooms, communal lounges and a laundry room.
Former nightclub Mayaimi Bar in Merrion Street is being transformed into 88 student studios. Work is due to start this summer so students can move in from 2024.
And most recently, Leeds City Council has supported plans to demolish the city's' House of Fraser department store and replace it with student flats.
The store, which was once home to the city’s first ever Woolworths, would be replaced by a 10-storey block of flats that could house up to 369 university students. However, it is expected there could still be room for shops on the ground and basement floors.
These new buildings would add onto the student accommodation buildings that are already available across the city.
We took to the city centre to hear people’s opinions about the additional accommodation and not everyone was happy about it.
“I think they’re making it harder for people to come and shop in town,” said 59-year-old Sue Tye. “There’s loads of student accommodation if you head to Burley Road, it's all student accommodation.
Asked about how she felt about the potential of having more student building, she added: “How many students have we got? It also depends on if we get the d********s
“To put more (apartments), you’re bringing more people into town but is there going to be more trouble?
“I don’t want them (students) to take over the town.”
Linda Allcock, who is from Leeds but lives in Bradford, remembers coming into the city on the weekend to shop and go out on nights out but confessed that Leeds has changed.
The 70-year-old was nostalgic about the old shops you used to find in the city such as Woolworths, Littlewoods and Lewis’s, that have since shut.
She said: “It seems a shame to lose the old buildings, it's changed a lot has Leeds. I remember a lot of the old stores that have disappeared.
“I’m quite old fashioned, there were nice shops to go in but most have gone. I do think it's a shame.
“With student accommodation coming into town centre I don’t really know but it's not really far from the University.”
Abbie, who works at House of Fraser, said they had not been told about the closure yet and she was concerned for the staff who will lose their jobs if the department store were to close.
She said: “Well the argument is what will be left to bring students to? There'll be plenty of places to live but there won’t be anything to do.
“I know they wanted to turn Debenhams to student flats and that’s what they’re trying to do to our building.”
However, one person had a neutral opinion but they did question who the accommodation would benefit from.
An elderly man who was sitting on Briggate said: “I would say it's an investment but not for the students.
“It’s a shame putting more apartments in the city centre when the high street is crying out for help. A lot of people are shopping online but when you go to the shop you can tell what you’re going to get.”
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