Work has started to build a 303-bedroom student scheme in York after a forward funding deal was agreed with Singapore-based Q Investment Partners (QIP).

The mix of 195 cluster apartments and 108 studios will be spread across a three to five storey development on James Street in York.

Planning permission was secured for the scheme by S Harrison last year, and the respected York-based development firm is working with QIP and a wider development team to deliver the project in time for the 2025 student intake year. The development will then be operated by the Prestige Student Living brand of Homes for Students.

GMI Construction Group has been appointed as contractor, and it is expected that the development will complete in the Spring of 2025.

Peter Young, CEO and co-founder of QIP, believes that purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is increasingly attractive to institutional investors. He said: “James Street is one of the student schemes that is part of a £200m build-to-core UK student housing venture between QIP and property investment group, Soilbuild.

“This expansion complements our existing stabilised portfolio, in partnership with Ares, that encompasses c.1,000 bedrooms across the UK’s leading student cities. This latest partnership reaffirms our unwavering commitment to the sector and allows QIP to leverage our existing platform scale to meet the rising demand for high-quality student accommodation in the UK.”

Martyn Harrison, from S Harrison, said: “We have been headquartered in York for over 70 years and have successfully designed and delivered many successful PBSA schemes in York, Leeds and Edinburgh in recent years, totalling thousands of bedrooms.

“Our ability to create exceptional developments in highly sought after locations means we have strong relationships with many leading PBSA and institutional investors, both in the UK and globally, and we’re very pleased to agree our first deal with QIP.

“High quality PBSA is in real demand in York, especially for schemes like this one, which is so close to both the University of York and York St John University. When this is combined with our local knowledge and QIP’s experience in the sector, there’s no doubt this development will prove to be very popular with the city’s student population.”

With an A-shaped footprint, the development has been designed by York-based CSP Architects and includes a large external central communal area, and also offers study space, a games room, cinema, gym and laundry facilities.

The site’s central location means it will mostly be car-free and a large cycle store forms part of the scheme. With plenty of soft landscaping and a South facing public pocket park on the site’s southeast corner and more than 200 sq m of green space, the Lawrence Street streetscape, which is a primary route into the city, will also be greatly improved.

Yorkshire’s divisional managing director at GMI Construction, Andrew Hurcomb, said: “GMI has a strong track record of delivering student accommodation across the North of England and the Midlands. The James Street development is in an ideal location given it’s within walking distance of two universities and will help York confirm its position as a top study destination by expanding the range of quality facilities available for students.”

Martyn concluded: “This scheme ticks so many boxes as it’s creating new, energy-efficient homes for students in an easily accessible location, as well as benefiting the local community with improvements to both pedestrian and cycle infrastructure, as well as a new community park for all.”

QIP is a private equity real estate firm that specialises in the global residential living sector. The company invests in the UK, US and Japan, by investing in PBSA, multi-family and co-living rental buildings, build-to-rent and care homes.

Keighley has received Government confirmation of the funding it needs to proceed with building a new health and wellbeing centre.

The funding of £3.4million forms part of a Towns Fund grant from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

It means that building the centre can now get underway with the centre expected to open in the summer of 2026.

The new facility would include GP services, self-care and prevention, community care, mental health, dental care, a GP training hub and other healthcare services, at an accessible town centre location.

The scheme would also bring around 200 jobs to the town centre, 50 of them being new posts, helping bring extra footfall to local shops and other businesses.

The site on which the new centre will be built comprises two areas of brownfield land at the corner of North Street and Cavendish Street, previously occupied by Keighley College, which was demolished in 2017.

Ian Hayfield, Keighley Towns Fund Chair, said: “It is fantastic news for Keighley that we’ve been given the go-ahead by the Government for the Health and Wellbeing Centre. It is a project that will make a real difference and bring in much needed investment to help achieve real social and economic change for our community.

“I want to thank all the residents and businesses of Keighley, the project sponsors, my fellow board members and the council for the hard work that has gone in over the last few years.”

Professor Mel Pickup, place-based lead for Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership, said: “The funding announcement is great news for the people of Keighley and for our whole health and care partnership. The new Health and Wellbeing Centre is much needed and will provide a ‘state of the art’ integrated health and wellbeing centre at the heart of Keighley.

“The centre will bring a wide range of services under one roof, and help ensure local people receive the care they need closer to home. This project is an exciting opportunity to construct a landmark building on the central site that enhances the town centre, provides value for money and, most importantly, improves the health and wellbeing of local people.”

Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “The announcement today is a great result for Keighley. It will bring a brand new facility in the heart of Keighley, in easy reach of transport links and which will provide essential services to improve the lives of those living in the community.

“In addition it will be a great boost for investment and jobs for Keighley and the wider district. This is a partnership success and thanks must go to the Keighley town fund board and everyone involved in this bid who has made this happen.”

Two of the north’s largest property auction houses, North-West based Pugh and South Yorkshire based Mark Jenkinson, are combining their online property auction listings from this month.

Mark Jenkinson, which has been based in Sheffield for over 125 years, was acquired by Eddisons earlier this year, joining Pugh which was bought by Eddisons in 2016. Between them the two firms have sold a wide range of commercial, residential and land assets worth £94m in the last year.

Combining the lots of both auction houses, under the Pugh brand and as part of Eddisons, will provide a more extensive list of investment opportunities across the regions.

Pugh Managing Director Paul Thompson said: “This is an exciting development for our business and reinforces our strength and leading position in the northern property auction market. Combining the two very capable teams ensures we continue to deliver a high performing service to our selling and buying customers.”

Mark Jenkinson senior partner, Adrian Little, added: “Working with Pugh, as part of Eddisons, gives us a superb geographic reach, unrivalled market insight and a vast network of buyers and sellers.

“The personalised customer service our clients have always enjoyed will be backed by cutting-edge technology and strategic marketing support.”

Property consultant Eddisons, which is headquartered in Leeds, has secured more than £20m of funding to improve buildings at schools across the UK, including more than £4m for Yorkshire schools, in the latest round of the Government’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).

Education sector specialist Eddisons has raised more than £200m in school funding over recent years and the latest round of secured funding for projects in Yorkshire includes £350,000 for the Yorkshire Collaborative Academies Trust to carry out fire safety and roofing works, and over £700,000 to fund a roofing project and asbestos removal for the Brooksbank School in Elland.

Ian Harrington, head of Eddisons specialist education team, said: “This is another year of fantastic results for both our clients and the team. However, the success also highlights once again the fact that education is one of the more poorly funded sectors, with 2,000 projects unsuccessful in their bids in this round of funding alone.

“We will continue to work with those schools and academies that were unsuccessful, to offer guidance on future bids, as well as offering advice on other funding opportunities that are available. With the total CIF pot remaining unchanged on last year, despite base rate inflation being at 11% and construction inflation nearer 30%, it was one the most fiercely competitive rounds of funding we’ve experienced.”

The CIF programme is an annual round of bidding under which academy schools and colleges can apply for funding for the upkeep and improvement of their buildings and to fund expansion projects for schools that have been rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. In total, the Department for Education received funding requests for over 3,000 projects this year, with 1,033 projects across 859 academies being allocated a share of the £456m.

Mr Harrington added: “The CIF bidding procedure is highly complex and Eddisons’ education team have built up huge knowledge and experience over the years to help deliver successful bids and projects that make a real difference to schools and to the people who study and work in them.

“Every year the process of submitting a successful CIF bid becomes ever more competitive and we are really pleased to say that we have maintained our position as a key adviser to the education sector, with an excellent success rate for our bids.”

The successful projects will all get underway shortly and will be project managed by Eddisons.

The Yorkshire region fares well in the retail sector with both Leeds and Sheffield ranked in the UK’s top 10 growth cities according to CBRE’s latest research report ‘Which City? Which Sector? Real Estate Prospects over the Next Decade’. Leeds is ranked fourth in the retail sector with Sheffield positioned eighth.

CBRE examined the growth prospects for 12 real estate sectors across the 50 largest regional towns and cities in the UK. Findings were informed by economic drivers (including GDP, employment and income growth), demographic trends and property market data such as supply pipeline, local universities and housing affordability. The top 10 performing cities and growth sectors were identified.

Ram Rasiah, senior director, CBRE said: “It’s great to see two Yorkshire cities in the top 10 list. Retail continues to adapt to changing consumer habits and repositioning the role of the store. Within this, the polarized performance of retail locations is becoming increasingly apparent. While small, local destinations continue to remain relevant through their convenience and regional schemes benefit from their critical mass, the performance of mid-sized locations has been more challenged.

“In contrast, larger locations deliver a greater catchment potential. And aligning these trends, population and expected population growth were among the metrics used in our analysis. Birmingham ranks strongest in this measure, followed by Leeds and Glasgow,” continued Rasiah.

Birmingham took the top spot for retail followed by Bristol and Manchester respectively.

Retail performance is not only driven by scale. CBRE’s research has shown that affluent cities see healthier property performance, have lower vacancy rates and experience higher rental and capital value growth. A review of average household incomes ranks Sheffield highly versus other locations. A comparison of cities highlights Bristol and Manchester with the strongest growth potential.

In addition, a critical driver of a retail location’s performance is the balance of supply and demand. Allowing for a shift of some spend online, CBRE estimates that the volume of retail floor space in the UK will need to decrease by 16% to reach average sales densities of 2015-2020. Ranking cities by floorspace per capita and a review of vacancy rate data, gives an indication of potential oversupply in locations. The majority of the top ten potential growth cities identified have a lower retail floor space per capita than the sample average, with Sheffield and Bristol in the strongest position.

Leeds ranked sixth in the office sector with Sheffield taking the eighth position for growth cities. Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham placed as the top three growth cities in this sector.

Alex Hailey, senior director in CBRE’s Office Agency team in Leeds, said: “It’s great to see both Leeds and Sheffield identified in the top 10 growth cities. The role of the office has changed over time to align with occupier requirements, as the way we use offices evolves.  The movement from cellular offices to flexible and agile formats has reduced the average space requirements per employee and hybrid working is challenging historic working norms.

“Occupiers focusing on talent attraction and retention are considering a range of flexible, amenity-rich spaces to curate the optimum user experience. But in tandem with these trends, demand for office space ultimately continues to be driven by the wider economic environment. Economic and demographic factors are fundamental when identifying key growth markets for office real estate.

“The size of the talent pool is a key factor used in forecasting office demand, with growth in those of working age and populations with qualifications at or above Level 4, could indicate the potential for employment growth by office-based sectors,” continued Hailey.

Supply factors are also key when considering a market’s ability to support future demand.  In the flight to quality office space, CBRE expects pre-letting of development space to continue. 29% of space under construction is already pre-let or under offer in eight of the top ten markets where CBRE tracks pipeline data.

Sheffield placed third behind Manchester and Bristol in the urban logistics sector with Leeds ranked ninth.

As supply chains diversify to keep up with accelerated online retail activity and consumer expectations, increased demand is being placed on smaller prime urban logistics facilities located in the UK’s major metropolitan areas. These provide more agile warehouses, accommodate numerous delivery vehicles, increase cost efficiencies and shorten delivery times for end consumers.

Online shopping is a major driver in the demand for urban logistics space and the report has identified locations with a high online penetration percentage, access to high-speed internet and a forecasted growth in population of age groups with a high online spend propensity. Sheffield, Manchester and Bristol ranked highly in the growth of 34-49 year olds at 13.52%, 10.63% and 9.86% respectively.

Sheffield also ranked fifth in the Single Family Housing sector with Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol taking the top spots. Sheffield has the most affordable rental market for houses in CBRE’s top five – the average rent for a house accounts for 37% of a single local income.

Jennet Siebrits, UK head of Research at CBRE, said: “Leeds, which has one of the most diverse economies in the UK, ranked particularly well in the office and retail sectors and Sheffield was ranked among the highest cities respectively for projected growth in the urban logistics sector, which has undergone a period of supply chain diversification to keep up with accelerated online retail activity and consumer expectations since the pandemic.

“The way towns and cities evolve is very much reflective of their local geographies, natural resources and cultural history. As a result, no two UK cities are the same and subsequently, different real estate sectors thrive in different locations. Real estate professionals need to be mindful of these differences to help inform their future strategies.”