The developer has planning permission nearly three years to the day after asking for itOne view of the 172 student flats on Carmoor Road, Ardwick(Image: Copyright Unknown)

A years-long planning saga has ended with developers allowed to demolish an MOT garage and build student accommodation. Tiger Developments secured permission on Tuesday (November 18) from Manchester council to build 172 student bedrooms on Carmoor Road, Ardwick, nearly three years to the day after first submitting its planning application.

The project hit a snag in 2023 when planners told the developers its original design wasn’t up to standard.

“Manchester City Council intends for this building to serve as a benchmark for future developments in Ardwick and therefore it should demonstrate depth, modelling and craft,” a revised design and access statement written on behalf of Tiger said in May 2023.

(Image: Lechler Hayes Architects for Tiger Developments via planning documents.)

To the naked eye, the design has not changed greatly, with the building’s height and exterior materials the same. But following the feedback, architects did more than that by removing metal louvres, applying a ‘masonry grid’, and adding full-height windows among other measures, they said.

“The Carmoor Road Entrance is defined by a recessed area with large sections of glazing to activate the street frontage, create a clear and legible entrance, and provide an identifiable ground floor plinth,” the statement went on. “The sheltered area creates opportunities for informal social interaction and provides weather protection and passive surveillance to the visitors’ cycle spaces.”

(Image: Lechler Hayes Architects for Tiger Developments via planning documents)

Planning permission likely spells the end of Carmoor Road MOT garage, which will be razed along with a now-closed nursery.

Tiger said the development will help cater for student demand to live near the universities, as youngsters are frequently choosing to live in-and-around the city centre ahead of the traditional Fallowfield heartland.

It will also clean up the industrial corner of Ardwick, with ‘new wayfinding signage to surrounding streets’ and ‘improvements to public realm and the Autumn Street/Carmoor Road streetscape’ by removing parked cars using the MOT garage and turning neighbouring Autumn Street into a walking route, which the company argued has ‘a slightly intimidating atmosphere’.