Controversial changes to the plans for Bristol’s first large-scale ‘co-living’ tower block – where people live in a single room and share communal space – should be approved next week, because Bristol does not yet have policies in place on the new form of residential development.
City council planning officers have again recommended that the changes to the plans for the 18-storey tower block should be approved by councillors, who meet next week, a month after they deferred a decision because they weren’t happy with what was proposed.
Developer Olympian Homes was given planning permission a year ago to demolish the 20-storey Premier Inn building between the Bearpit and Bristol Bus Station, and build two large tower blocks in its place.
One is to be a 28-storey PBSA – purpose-built student accommodation – while the other is to be an 18-storey ‘co-living’ development of 132 rooms. ‘Co-living’ is a relatively new concept in residential development, but is being constructed in increasing numbers in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
There is already just one ‘co-living’ development in Bristol – a converted building in Old Market – but Olympian Homes’ plan would be the first large-scale purpose-built ‘co-living’ development in the city. The idea is essentially for each floor to be a shared flat – similar to how students live in PBSAs – with each bedsit room having a bathroom, and small kitchen facilities, with a communal lounge area in each flat.
That was what councillors approved last year, but Olympian Homes returned to City Hall at the end of 2024 to ask to tweak their plans. Along with other alterations to both tower blocks, the change which proved most contentious for councillors was in the ‘co-living’ tower block.
Instead of each floor having its own communal lounge area each with a balcony, Olympian said it instead wanted to concentrate the communal areas to the top two floors and a roof garden. The space on each floor where the lounge was planned would instead be more rooms – a switch which would increase the total number of rooms in the tower block from 132 to 150.
Read more: Communal areas removed to fit more rooms into Bristol’s first major ‘Co-living’ tower block
At a meeting in January, councillors on the planning committee said they were concerned about that change – it would mean anyone in a ‘co-living’ room in the development would have to get in a lift and go to either the ground floor or the top floors to socialise with anyone else, rather than essentially share a flat with a smaller number of people.
The councillors said the change would be a ‘recipe for disaster’ and the decision was deferred to the next meeting – which takes place on Tuesday, March 4 – to allow planning officers to talk again to the developers.
But in a report ahead of the meeting, council planning officers have told councillors there’s little they can do to stop the changes. Because the ‘co-living’ concept has arrived in Bristol before the city council have put together a set of guidelines and policies outlining the minimum standards they expect developers should adhere to, there are no rules which forbid what the developers want to do. Three years ago, the previous Labour administration at City Hall dropped plans to draw up rules for ‘co-living’ developments.
“The amenity space would be more remote from the residents (in large part) than the approved scheme, and the travel distance to the provision of amenity was raised as a concern by members,” the planning officer’s report said. “The co-living schemes that have so far been permitted in Bristol have provided internal amenity more local to the residents.
“However, the disadvantage of doing this is that the type of space provided is much more limited and inflexible. It also means that the number of people that residents will commonly interactive with in these spaces is more limited. Larger spaces allow more flexibility, which can mean that the spaces can have a wider range of uses, as well as encouraging interaction with a wider range of people.
“Whilst these spaces are only accessible by lift, it does mean that they are equally accessible by all users. There is clearly an element of personal choice regarding which format is preferred by residents, however, importantly for determination of this application there is no policy guidance as to which is the ‘better’ form of accommodation,” the report added.
The planning officers have recommended the changes be approved, and also reminded the councillors that the council has already given planning permission to the entire development. However, the officer’s report did give councillors a way to say ‘no’ to the changes. Councillors could decide that the changes proposed now tipped the balance of pros and cons against the entire development.
Back in March last year, councillors decided that the positives of building much-needed student accommodation and new ‘co-living’ homes in such prominent new buildings outweighed the impact of those new buildings on some of Bristol’s oldest buildings, including the St James Church next door to the site.
Planning officers have advised that, although there’s no reason to refuse the changes now, if they really wanted to, they could turn it down on the basis of the impact on the church – although this would not quash the original planning permission.