A student housing block in the Capital is set to be transformed into temporary accommodation under a planning application put forward by Edinburgh Council.
ELS House, at 555 Gorgie Road, currently has 72 beds for city university students, split between studios, one bed and two bed flats.
It emerged last month that the council was looking to buy the student accommodation block.
And while it is understood a deal for the purchase has yet to be completed, a planning application for the cite has now been brought forward to allow the building to change over to running as temporary accommodation for homeless people.
According to planning documents, 12 ‘unit wardens’ and two housing supervisors would cover the site. And, 24-hour coverage would exist on site.
The council’s application says that no alterations are required as “it is only a change of use from student accommodation to temporary residential accommodation to assist with the council tackling the housing emergency.”
ELS House was built intentionally as a private student housing block, also known as a Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA).
Building regulations differ from the norm for PBSAs, with there often being less required square footage per bedroom than in a normal new-build development.
SNP housing spokesperson, Councillor Danny Aston, said: “I’ve got to give qualified support to this, given the emergency faced.
“Clearly this kind of accommodation, though far from ideal, is better than nothing, which is better than what’s being offered regularly to people presenting as homeless at the moment.
“And it is at least a purchase, rather than a lease.
“But we have to be careful that jumping from unlicensed HMO landlords isn’t simply replaced by arrangements with student accommodation providers in terms of the outcomes for folk experiencing homelessness.”
At present, the council uses a mixture of housing types to support homeless people, including council flats and houses in multiple occupation.
It recently faced criticism for hosting homeless people in B&Bs and hotels, which caused the accommodations to potentially become unlicensed HMOs.
Last month, councillors voted to suspend council house allocations for virtually all city residents in order to keep them free for people in need of temporary accommodation.
A spokesperson for Edinburgh Council said: “We are unable to comment on live planning applications and a decision is yet to be made on this building’s change of use.”
They further said that the city was yet to buy the building.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
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