The South West Landlords Association have claimed that private sector landlords in Plymouth are coming under increasing pressure from large new student accommodation blocks.

The body, which is based in Plymouth, says that with more blocks being built and empty office being converted, students are moving away from more traditional house shares and flats.

This they say, may leave hundreds of landlords out of pocket, as they try to pay of mortgages on houses that may stay empty for entire academic years.

Yet the flip side of this is that the large developments represent millions of pounds of investment into the Plymouth economy. They also often turn old brownfield sites into nice, high-quality facilities.

Ian Maitland, chairman of the SWLA, says that the toll a new block can take on private landlords is huge. He gives the example of a development called Beckley Court, which is currently being built on the site of a former YMCA hostel. The 507 bed, 22 storey block will, he claims, displace 100, 5-bed houses from the private market.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Creative Commons.