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The plans for the blocks on Weston Hall and Pendulum Hotel(Image: iQ Students)<\/p>\nThey would open in the 2030sThe plans for the blocks on Weston Hall and Pendulum Hotel(Image: iQ Students)<\/p>\n
Four student accommodation towers, including a 50-storey skyscraper, could replace ageing uni halls and a hotel in a \u00a3224m project.<\/p>\n
More than 2,500 student rooms could be squeezed into the former University of Manchester<\/a> north campus site, sandwiched between Sackville Street and Charles Street in the shadow of Mancunian Way.<\/p>\n They are planned by iQ Students, which has announced plans to demolish the university\u2019s 528-bed Weston Hall residence and the 118-room Pendulum Hotel next door. In their place, four towers will be constructed to meet sky-high demand for rooms.<\/p>\n \u201cManchester continues to experience strong and sustained demand for purpose-built student accommodation in the right locations and many students are occupying the mainstream housing stock, which has a negative impact on the availability and affordability of housing to meet local residents\u2019 needs,\u201d the company said. \u201cThe site occupies a prime location within the Oxford Road<\/a> Corridor, adjacent to University of Manchester buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n The first two skyscrapers will be 18 and 50 storeys tall, connected by a nine-storey \u2018link building\u2019. Phase B will contain 32 and 24 storey blocks, with a new green courtyard being installed around the four towers. They will contain in excess of 2,500 bedrooms.<\/p>\n Should the four towers go ahead and open as planned in the 2030s, they will accelerate the trend of students moving closer to the universities to rooms in the city centre and Ardwick, away from traditional south Manchester suburbs like Fallowfield<\/a> and Withington<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the four years from 2018, the number of students in Fallowfield dropped by a fifth, while the amount of students living in the city centre rose by 46pc from 2016 to 2022.<\/p>\n The exodus prompted the council to \u2018manage a pipeline of student accommodation\u2019 in and around the city centre and university campuses, according to executive councillor for housing, Gavin White.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the city\u2019s universities have consolidated their campuses towards the Oxford Road corridor, more students are choosing to live closer to their studies and the lure of city centre living,\u201d he said in January.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1_Screenshot-2025-11-21-150730.jpg\")
A new courtyard is included in the proposals(Image: iQ Students)<\/p>\n