Student accommodation
You might hear that the Council has built a lot of student accommodation in Coventry. That’s not true.
As the Council, we are the planning authority in the city. That means developers must bring their applications to our planning committee for approval.
If you refuse an application the developer has a right to appeal your decision by going to the Planning Inspectorate, which is a separate national body. If the Council loses that appeal, the planning application will be approved, and the Council may have to pick up the legal bill for the developer.
Planning laws are very strict, and you have to have solid legal grounds to refuse an application. We can’t just refuse them because we’d rather have something else.
In the case of students, Coventry is very fortunate to have two world-class universities located in the city. Being an attractive destination for students is an important aspect for our city as they bring money into our city and are active participants in our city’s communities.