New student accommodation development targets growing need

Nationally, current student housing can only accommodate approximately 18% of the total student enrolments in higher education, according to the Department of Higher Education.

Housing crisis ignored

“The student housing crisis is often ignored and yet it can play a significant role in the success of students,” said Evert Lategan, managing director of Integrated Solutions, the project construction management company overseeing the development of a new residence building in Mowbray, Cape Town.

“The focus seems always to be on the costs of tuition, books and equipment and while this is a real concern, the issue of student housing and its impact on the ability of students from all communities to study is overlooked. It is not just a matter of cost; if there are too few accommodation units, where are the students supposed to go?”

According to the Department of Education, 171,755 matriculants achieved entrance to bachelor’s degrees, 173,292 to national diplomas and 94,540 to higher certificates in 2013. Those figures are likely to grow exponentially over the next few years as universities widen access to higher education and demand increases.

Provision not keeping pace

Yet student housing provision is not keeping pace. A 2015 survey by the Times found that there were only just over 68,000 spaces for the more than 140,000 residence applications received in 2015. The survey focused on nine universities in South Africa.

The new CampusKey building, a redevelopment which saw the previous video store, movie theatre, editing studio, bar and grocery store being demolished, offers student accommodation close to campus and transport nodes. In addition to fencing and monitoring of the building, each room will also have its own security fingerprint access lock. Other facilities will include gymnasiums, entertainment areas, laundry facilities, bicycle sheds and ample parking comprising 258 parking bays spread over three levels.