Solitary students prompt Liverpool hotel switch

Citing an unwillingness among students to share kitchens and a dwindling number of international students, the owner of the Lightbox scheme on Lower Gill Street is seeking to pivot the building’s use.

Lightbox Lower Gill Street Developments has applied to Liverpool City Council to change the use of the five-storey building from purpose-built student accommodation to a hotel as it battles with high void rates.

The building, constructed in 2015, currently features 34 bedspaces, the majority of which are within cluster apartments where residents share facilities.

Since the pandemic, the popularity of this type of accommodation has decreased, with students now preferring self-contained studios instead, according to a planning statement prepared by Landor Planning.

As a result, the Lightbox scheme has experienced a period of high vacancy, prompting the request to repurpose the building as a hotel. The building contains four studios, which have remained popular.

As well as students’ changing accommodation preferences, the landlord has also pointed to a decrease in international students and the development of several high-density student schemes nearby as reasons for Lightbox’s dwindling appeal.

A statement from Golding Estates, which manages the building, states that Lightbox is “perfectly configured” for use as a hotel, adding that its conversion would help meet the growing demand for hotel rooms in the city.

If the hotel plans are approved, the communal facilities would be converted into rooms, taking the number of bedspaces in the building up to 38.

To learn more about the application, search for reference number 24F/2064 on Liverpool City Council’s planning portal.