University housing provider Unite has received the green light for a 41-storey student skyscraper in Stratford, among the tallest buildings of its kind in the world, as providers seek to build up to solve the capital’s dramatic shortage of dedicated student digs.
The tower at Meridian Square, which will host almost 1000 students, is set to complete in 2028. It’ll top out higher than the current tallest student building in the world, Nido Spitalfields, but a building currently underway in Leeds, set to complete in 2026, is set to be even taller. It will be a centrepiece in Stratford’s fast-changing timeline, rivalling Manhattan Loft Gardens and the Stratford Yards North Tower for the title of the tallest building in Newham.
The block will be part of a wider £400 million development, which will also include a new entrance and exit to Stratford Underground Station.
The building is located near the UCL East campus that opened last year at Olympic Park. UCL is expected to sign a deal to let the majority of beds in the tower.
Tom Brewerton, Group Development Director at Unite Students, said: “It is fantastic to have received approval at planning committee for this exciting new Stratford development that will positively contribute to the area’s changing skyline.”
Part of the space is reserved for You Press, a social enterprise based in Canning Town that works with young artists.
The tower’s approval comes amid a desperate shortage of student housing in the capital, with Unite warning that its properties are already 86% reserved, tracking close to last year when its properties were entirely full by the start of term. That comes despite it charging 6% more for rents, ahead of inflation. The FTSE 100 firm has said that the exit of many HMO landlords, leading to a “chronic under-supply”, in the sector, has helped to prop up student rents. Without the rise, it’s properties would likely have filled up even sooner.
