A councillor says more student accommodation is needed in Nottingham city centre to prevent rent prices in the suburbs from going up.
Councillor Graham Chapman, vice-chair of the planning committee and who represents the Aspley ward, spoke of his concerns during a meeting to approve the development of a new 13-storey student block in place of the existing Bendigo building.
Plans were reluctantly approved, conditional to changes to the way it looks, but during the meeting on Wednesday, August 18, councillor Chapman said more accommodation was needed in the future.
It comes as Nottingham City Council estimates an additional 7,000 student rooms are still needed in the next three years.
"We have two of the most successful universities in the country which is a blessing but also a curse," Councillor Chapman said.
"The problem that we have is that if we do not accommodate students then they will move to private sector residential lets in the midst of communities.
"That is what has already happened. The reason why we try and concentrate students in city centres is to try to deflate that demand outside.
"We've had marginal success because the number of students has just increased and increased and increased and that will increase again this year."
A number of plans for student accommodation have been submitted to the council.
These include plans to demolish the Nottingham Legend pub in Parliament Street for student beds, while a number of developments are under way on the south side of the city.
Councillor Chapman explained if student blocks are not built in the city, students will either move out of the city or into the suburbs, inflating rents.
He added: "Last year Nottingham Trent was shipping people out to Derby so it is essential that we try to keep up with the game and deflate the housing market elsewhere.
"Because it will have a knock-on effect all the way down to places like Aspley, where the rent levels have gone up from about £450 per month to about £600 and £700 in the space of probably 18 months."
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