Planning & Place
Do Exeter Labour election campaign claims stand up to scrutiny? Part I: Exeter’s housing crisis
The first instalment in our 2022 local elections coverage examines Exeter Labour claims related to the housing crisis overtaking the city.
Council consultants confirm 58% of Exeter’s university students live in city’s residential housing stock
2021-22 university figures suggest there are now more than 4,500 student HMOs in the city, consistent with ONS findings, with number set to surpass Exeter’s council housing provision.
Individual overseas ownership of Exeter property triples in ten years
350% rise greater than in Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, increasing housing costs, reducing home ownership levels and harming housing affordability.
Pennsylvania petitioners expose fifteen years of flawed student accommodation policy-making
City council policies based on faulty premises, inaccurate information and miscalculated projections have failed to prevent mass student occupation of Exeter residential housing stock despite the proliferation of Purpose Built Student Accommodation across the city.
Exeter City Council approves second Harlequins “co-living” block, sealing fate of Paul Street
Previously rejected vision will now form basis of “abysmal” and “poorly thought through” Liveable Exeter development of 383 ‘units of accommodation’ with increased proportion of substandard studios but reduced economic value to city.
Prospects improve for pop-up Paris Street and Sidwell Street tenants wanting to stay on development site
Council leader Phil Bialyk says it will be “some years” before planned Citypoint redevelopment affects repurposed retail units, and that council “would want” to accommodate artistic and cultural initiatives and independent local businesses “should they wish to remain”.