Construction begins on £124 million Central Quay 934-bed student accommodation project

The Clyde riverside project means the group will have a 3,200-bed portfolio in the city. Unite Students is the UK’s largest provider of student accommodation. The Central Quay property, north of the River Clyde, will include a social marketplace café, yoga room, gym, screen rooms, and a garden room with a terrace. Full planning permission for the scheme was received last year. There will be space for retail units in the plans for 934 beds for students in four tower blocks. The site sits alongside the Kingston Bridge.

The group says the move “will help meet rising student demand while also easing Glasgow’s housing shortage by freeing up existing homes for local families. Development in this central location is set to unlock a long-term vacant site on the river corridor to benefit the community.”

Tom Brewerton, Unite Students Group Development Director, said "Our latest Glasgow development, north of the River Clyde, will create a new supply of high quality, affordable student accommodation in the city to support the continued growth of our university partners. “This property will provide more homes for students while helping to ease Glasgow's housing storage by freeing up houses for families."

Central Quay, which will open to students in time for the 2027/28 academic year, is being developed on a brownfield site by the Clyde, close to the University of Glasgow’s main campus in the West End of the city.

Anderston Community Council had objected to a previous version of the project due to concerns that so many new residents will overwhelm stretched services such as doctors and dentists.

There were concerns about the balance of residential and student accommodation, with councillor Eva Bolander saying she would have “liked to see more residential housing considering we have a housing crisis”.

“I think there is a risk we are overdeveloping for student accommodation, and not creating the good mix that creates really good communities,” she added.