Developer Spinnaker Estates Private Limited has submitted an application for full planning permission to Exeter City Council for a six-storey student accommodation block on the corner of Summerland Street and Verney Street.
The 180-bed redevelopment would replace the closed Unit 1 nightclub and Best Tyre Auto Centre to increase the number of student bedspaces in the immediate area to 1,754.
It would stand adjacent to two of the five blocks that form the 487-bed Verney Street Printworks student complex and face The Depot, a 734-bed student block with its entrance in Bampfylde Street.
The Barn provides another 150 student beds in Bampfylde Street and the rear facade of The Kingfisher, which provides 203 student beds, overlooks Verney Street alongside the Printworks.
In addition, the council granted full planning consent for 145 beds in a “co-living” block on land it owns in Summerland Street in October 2024, then approved the phasing of this development last September.
It then approved another 813 student and “co-living” beds on the site of the former police station and magistrates court in Heavitree Road in December, and is expected to approve an application for a 297-bed student complex up to ten storeys tall to replace Clarendon House.
Alongside other existing developments, the proposed Summerland Street student block would bring the purpose-built temporary accommodation pipeline tally to 3,244 beds in Newtown alone.
Illustrative view of proposed student block entrance in Summerland Street. Image: Ruff Architects.
Spinnaker Estates Private Limited, which was incorporated in February 2024 shortly after the Unit 1 nightclub closed, began promoting the scheme in September.
It held a single drop-in session at St Sidwell’s Community Centre and sought feedback via a third-party online survey.
The company website, largely comprised of lorem ipsum placeholder text, did not provide any details about the scheme.
A spokesperson for the company incorrectly claimed that the university’s intake is growing at a rate of 750 students per year, despite the university’s own figures which confirm that its student numbers are falling.
He also said it would reduce the number of students living in private rented accommodation which could otherwise be used as family housing for local people – an oft-repeated but never-evidenced claimm.
At the end of last year the company’s registered office was changed from a residential address in Putney to a co-working space in Marylebone.
Unit 1 nightclub in Summerland Street flanked by Printworks student complex blocks on both sides
A statement of community involvement submitted with the planning application says that “detailed public engagement was carried out” but that “despite consultation being well-publicised” the drop-in session was attended by just six people, with only two online survey responses submitted.
The statement claims that this “limited interest suggests that residents are apathetic toward the proposals and do not have in-principal [sic] concerns with the proposed redevelopment of this site for student accommodation”.
Comments on the proposed scheme can be submitted via the Exeter City Council website or via email to consultations@exeter.gov.uk until Sunday 8 February.
The application will be determined at a later date.
