[2025] UKUT 00007 (LC)

Birmingham has a flourishing higher education sector and is home to seven institutions with university status: Aston University (‘Aston’), The University of Birmingham (‘UoB’), University College Birmingham (‘UCB’), Newman University (‘Newman’), Birmingham City University (‘BCU’), the University of Law, and BPP University. The last two mentioned are the Birmingham campuses of larger institutions and the evidence which we heard left them out of account in assessing the need for PBSA because separate data was not available and because any difference they might make was thought to be nominal.

In addition to its universities, Birmingham has a large further education sector comprising FE and sixth form colleges. The student housing needs of these institutions were also left out of account both because of a lack of data and on the basis that most of their students reside in their parental home while pursuing further education.

The five principal universities are located in three main centres. The main campuses of Aston, UCB, and BCU are located in the City centre itself; Aston and BCU adjoin each other immediately to the north of the Eastside Quarter, while UCB is further to the west. Also in the City centre, but apart from the main cluster are BCU’s School of Art and School of Jewellery.

UoB is at Edgbaston on the south side of the City. Also to the south, but closer to the City centre, is BCU’s smaller City South campus.

Finally, Newman, the smallest of the five institutions, is a further 10km southwest of UoB, almost on the fringe of the City. There was agreement that its students do not contribute significantly to the need for PBSA in the City, as most live at home. They therefore tended to be omitted from assessments of demand.

The Birmingham Development Plan published in January 2017 recorded that the City’s five main universities were attended by around 72,000 students. This figure is rather higher than the total of 65,795 recorded by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (‘HESA’) (a standalone agency at the valuation dates, since merged into ‘Jisc’, the Joint Information Systems Committee) but we assume the difference is accounted for by part time students who are omitted from the HESA figures and from the calculations of the expert witnesses.