LANCASTER UNIVERSITY SEALS MAJOR DEAL FOR STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

Lancaster has reached financial close on Britain’s largest university accommodation project with Jarvis UPP in a £120 m deal.

Under the agreement Jarvis University Partnerships Programme (Jarvis UPP) will build and maintain 3,405 new and replacement rooms for a period of 38 years. Jarvis UPP is also contracted to provide a final conditional phase bringing the total number of rooms to 4426.

Jarvis will provide the facilities management (FM) services such as grounds maintenance and general site management and the University will be responsible for providing services such as cleaning and the pastoral care of the students

The accommodation is necessary to increase student numbers on site, reinvigorate ageing accommodation and allow for the expansion and leisure facilities on campus. Jarvis UPP were appointed via a rigorous bidding process as the University’s Private Sector Partners.

The University worked closely with Ashurst Morris Crisp and NM Rothschild throughout the development of the project.

Student applications to Lancaster has grown steadily across all categories for the past 4 years. This year Lancaster has record numbers of applications and admitted its largest ever intake of first year and postgraduate students, a figure of 4,500.

The increase in student numbers is recognised in the local community as being essential to the city’s economic success.

Phase one of the project, 402 rooms on the University’s South West campus is complete and students have moved into their new accommodation. This phase has completed the extension of the existing Graduate College.

1956 more rooms will be constructed on the same site during the second phase, due for completion in 2004. The third phase will involve the demolition of 3 existing accommodation blocks on the University’s main campus and the construction of two entirely new blocks on the same site. Two existing colleges, Cartmel and Lonsdale, will move to the site and new social facilities will be built for each college.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said: “ We are delighted to have concluded this long term agreement with Jarvis. This is a great opportunity for Lancaster University to refresh its residential accommodation with modern rooms and facilities tailored to the needs of contemporary students. The project is a key step in Lancaster University’s growth strategy, in line with the expansion of the UK and International student market.”

Andrew Sutton, Chief Executive of Jarvis Accommodation Services, the division that will manage the project, said “We are immensely pleased to be working with an institution as prestigious as Lancaster University. The scale of this project not only demonstrates our commitment to the work of the university but also marks an important milestone in the provision of first-class accommodation to the country’s higher education sector. Our work with Lancaster University will demonstrate the value of such schemes and highlight the opportunities they offer to other institutions.”