Development of homes and student accommodation set to get go-ahead

A major city-centre development of housing and student accommodation has been recommended for approval by Edinburgh planners.

- by Ian Swanson

The New Town Quarter plans have been recommended for approval

The "New Town Quarter" proposals for the former Royal Bank of Scotland site on Dundas Street in the New Town would see 315 new homes and 592 student bedspaces built on the site, along with commercial space and landscaping.

The developers described it as the biggest housing development in the city centre for more than a decade and said the purpose-built student accommodation - to be operated by student housing provider Fusion Students - would help free up some of the flats currently occupied by 27,000 students.

The plans will be considered at a hearing by the council's development management subcommittee next Wednesday, December 17.