University halls of residence site brought to market

The University of Liverpool has brought its Carnatic Halls of Residence site in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, to market.

Opened in 1964, Carnatic Halls of Residence has welcomed thousands of students to the university over the years.

It has also served as accommodation for conferences during the Summer recess period.

It closed its doors to students in June 2019 as part of the university’s long-term residences strategy which has seen the opening of new accommodation sites on campus and refurbishment of Greenbank Student Village, which collectively provide more than 4,000 high-quality accommodation spaces to offer students.

This, coupled with the ageing nature of the buildings on the site, meant it was no longer considered suitable for the current needs of the university’s students.

The Carnatic site covers approximately 22.2 acres and represents a significant development opportunity in the popular Liverpool suburb of Mossley Hill.

The former accommodation buildings are still in-situ, and will remain as part of the sale. The rest of the site comprises open grassland and a small wooded area.

A pre-application report was issued by Liverpool City Council in November 2018, which considered redevelopment of the site for residential purposes to be acceptable in principle. A development framework has also been produced and agreed through consultation with Liverpool City Council.

Chris Lewis, property manager at the University of Liverpool, said: “We are bringing the Carnatic Residences site to market.

“It represents a significant residential development opportunity and we anticipate a high level of interest.

“Public consultations will occur through the planning process once a developer has been chosen to acquire the site, however, the university intends to keep closely associated throughout the process.”

Offers are being invited for the site by informal tender and are to be conditional on the outcome of a successful planning application.

The sale is being managed by the university’s property team.