Policy information sourced from Lewisham Development Management Local Plan

DM Policy 8 Student housing

The Council will support proposals for student housing provided that the development:

  • will not involve the loss of permanent self-contained homes
  • will not involve the loss of designated employment land
  • will not involve the loss of leisure or community space
  • will not prejudice the Council’s ability to meet its annual London Plan housing target for additional self-contained homes
  • has an identified end user affiliated with an educational institution or student housing management company
  • is well served by public transport and is accessible to a range of town centre, leisure and community services
  • provides a high quality living environment and includes a range of unit sizes and layouts, with and without shared facilities, to meet the requirements of the educational institutions it will serve
  • complies with part 1 of DM Policy 6 Houses in multiple occupation (HMO) in all cases where the proposal involves the creation of an HMO
  • demonstrates that it is suitable for year round occupation and that it has long term adaptability and sustainability, including adequate and suitable cycle parking
  • contributes to creating a mixed and inclusive community
  • does not cause unreasonable harm to residential amenity or the surrounding area and
  • provides 10% wheelchair accessible rooms fully fitted from occupation.

The Council will resist development that involves the net loss of student housing unless:

  • adequate replacement accommodation is provided in a location accessible to the higher education institutions that it serves or
  • the accommodation is no longer required, and it can be demonstrated that there is no local demand for student accommodation to serve another higher education institution based in Lewisham or adjoining boroughs.

Where the Council is satisfied that a development involving the loss of student housing is justified, the replacement development is to provide an equivalent amount of residential floorspace for permanent housing in Use Class C3, including an appropriate amount of affordable housing, having regard to Core Strategy Policy 1.

For more information please see the Local Plan