Twenty-year-old student flats to be demolished

Plans to demolish a student housing accommodation block because of fire safety concerns have been approved, less than two decades after it was built.

Southampton City Council's planning and rights of way panel heard there was "fire impairment issues" which affected the steel frame of the 16-storey Mercury Point block on Duke Street in the city centre.

Owners Unite Students said the replacement Mercury Point building would be up to 21 storeys high and would house 783 students - 221 more than the current accommodation.

The existing building, built in 2004, will close this summer ahead of the redevelopment. It houses students from both Solent University and the University of Southampton.

Katy Snodgrass, design and planning architect at Unite Students, said: "The redevelopment of Mercury Point creates an exciting opportunity to regenerate the site and provide a best in class student accommodation development."

She told the council the problems with the building were not fully realised when Unite Students purchased the building, which is only about 20 years old.

The meeting was told the issues were not like a cladding remediation project as they ran "much deeper", through to the steel frame of the 16-storey block.

Councillors unanimously approved the planning application.

Ms Snodgrass said the purpose-built student accommodation owner, manager and developer had been in ongoing conversations with the fire service.

Mercury Point has continued to operate with safeguards in place in the interim.

The proposal has been designed so it can be converted to normal residential housing if student demand in the city falls.

More than 250 students had to been moved out the building in 2022 after a burst water pipe led to flooding.

Rooms and corridors were filled with water and the resident were temporarily moved into three hotels, including one in Portsmouth.

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