There's One Wellington Man who has lost his enthusiasm for helping the need for student accommodation.

On Page One we show the architect's sketch of a 200-bed hostel which was designed for a Terrace site which backs on to the university.

It Would Comprise 10 floors, each of 10 identical two-person bedsitting room/ study units, a ground floor allocated to service facilities, and a penthouse flat.

Each room unit Includes a self - contained kitchenette and lavatory.

Each floor contains a lobby with two small sitting areas. On the ground floor there is a shop, a recreation area and reading room, a laundromat, a caretaker's flat, and a storage room.

Each floor is served by two lifts. On the sixth and 10th floors, ramps give access to the university grounds at the back.

Each room is provided with divan beds, bookshelves, writing desks, and a floor rug.

The units would be rented to students for £3/10, - per week each.

But This Development Will Not Take Place.

The Government makes no provision to assist the financing of such a scheme.

Loan Needed

The plan is dependent on loan finance of £450,000. spread over 40 years. If student rentals are to be kept low. a 31 per cent Interest rate is desirable.

The scheme was put to the University Grants Committee. They replied:

"Your proposals have been examined, but I regret that the policy agreed to by the Government does not provide for the making of a loan such as you require to finance the undertaking."

The developer is bitter at the lack of appreciation shown by this letter. He told Salient that, even if his proposals were to be rejected, he would have expected some formal thanks for his work.

The developer—who does not want his name published —has told Salient that the whole scheme was designed with students in mind.

But following the reception which the scheme -received, he has abandoned his interest in student accommodation. "I suppose it will go ahead eventually," he said.

If it does, it will be financed by a group of city commercial organisations, and used to house their staff.

Special Features

"I've been looking after university students for 25 years," he told Salient. He developed the plans after discussion with a number of persons, and the scheme includes a number of features which will now be abandoned.

For example, it would have been possible to use the building as a short-cut into town. Now that university students will not be in it. two ramps costing £16.000 and one lift worth £13.000 can be avoided.

The total cost of the building would be £496,000, inclusive of the site, which he now owns. This represents a 'cost per square foot of about £7/5/-, well below comparable figures for other hostels.

"The Grants Committee were surprised that the cost could be so low.

"The architects did the plans for nothing." he says. "They were so keen on helping the scheme."

General Policy

Salient asked Mr. F. K. Ken. of the University Grants Committee, to outline the general policy on such projects.

He was not asked to comment on this specific project, which was not mentioned to him.

He stated that subsidies', were not available for projects promoted by firms. As to loans, no policy existed, and there is no Government loan policy applying to education.

Each such case would be a matter of separate negotiation with the State Advances Corporation, he said.

It is apparent that the University Grants Committee had to reject this plan on financial grounds.

This hostel may not have been feasible as student accommodation. It may have hidden financial defects, the design may be unsatisfactory, many other still unknown factors could count against it.

But it is Salient's view that the reception accorded this project shows a deficiency in the Government's attitude to student housing.

In this area, on realistic rents, it would seem that students can pay their way.

This scheme and this site are now lost to the university, will this be the fate of future projects?