A VETERAN housing campaigner has hit out after more student accommodation has been approved at "the expense of social housing".

Frank Dempsey of Carrick Hill Residents' Association was speaking after one of the largest student accommodation buildings was approved this week for the north-inner city.

Belfast City Council’s Planning Committee had originally rejected a bid by Mandeville Developments for the large Little Donegall Street scheme back in March 2023. It was determined the “excessive scale, height and massing” would prejudice the delivery of mixed tenure housing on an adjacent car park site, which has been zoned for social housing.

The student accommodation block was also opposed by Carrick Hill Residents’ Association, which has consistently lobbied for more social housing in the city’s inner north-west.

However, following an appeal, the major development could now be built after being given the go-ahead by the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC).

Two years ago plans were submitted to Belfast City Council for social housing to be built on the vacant car park site facing the Mandeville development by Choice Housing  but the plans did not come to fruition. 

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Belfast Media to Belfast City Council has revealed that 15 student blocks have been completed, with a a total of 6,306 bed spaces.

As of November 2024, there were:

• Three schemes (1,224 bed spaces) under construction.

• Four schemes (355 bed spaces) approved, but not yet started.

• Five schemes (3,712 bed spaces) with planning applications pending.

Housing rights campaigner Frank Dempsey says people in the Carrick Hill need more student accommodation like a "hole in the head". There are currently 2,200 applicants for social housing in North Belfast, with around 1,800 classed as being in ‘housing stress’.

"There have been 15 student blocks completed and there is still more to come," he said. "Where are the sites earmarked for social housing?

"Why is it that Carrick Hill is getting hit the most with student accommodation? You don’t see any of these high rise developments being built in South Belfast.

"There is also the issue of where is the car parking for these student blocks? Where are these cars going to go? At what stage is enough going to be enough?

"Yet more student accommodation has been approved and once again, no family homes. This area no more needs more student accommodation than a hole in the head.

"Belfast City Council and especially those councillors on the Planning Committee need to remember who voted them in."