Instead of reducing rents to tempt more students, they’ve been going to the council and getting permission to use it for short-term lets and co-living.
“Members emphasised the importance of differentiating this scheme from other co-living schemes which have received negative media attention,” say meeting minutes from June 2019. The idea was dropped, said an LDA spokesperson.
The cameras are just one example of how those behind plans for co-living complexes want to ramp up their use of tech, with smartphone apps for services, and smart CCTV systems.
“Talk about David and Goliath,” says Tony McDonnell, gesturing upwards at the seven-storey building directly next door to his home on Mayor Street Upper in the Docklands. “Well that is Goliath.”
A seven-storey co-living development has already been granted planning permission to be built in plots that originally formed part of the protected properties.
