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Under-pressure universities could become housing developers, says consultant
UNIVERSITIES acting as housing developers, taking over redundant NHS space and becoming much more integrated with their local communities – three developments that Kevin Richardson, Local Growth Consultant, HEFCE, believes are imminent and necessary. Speaking recently at a Westminster
Higher Education Forum conference, “The future of university estates”, Richardson argued that British universities need to move fast and in new directions if they are to remain successful and financially viable. He said: “Growth in student numbers
isn’t going to happen, so competition between universities will intensify. Yet many university buildings are obsolete and almost redundant and either need a very significant refurbishment, or they need a rebuild. Generally, and to the extent at which we compete in a global market, particularly for research, the university estate generally across England
is not strong. There are some universities with very strong infrastructure and facilities, there are others where it’s particularly weak or indeed mixed.” He added: “I was fortunate recently to do
a study visit to a relatively small university in the United States. It’s only got 38,000 students but its infrastructure and the quality of its design and its scale far exceeds any university in England by a considerable margin. Tuition fees are a lot lower than they are here. So that’s the challenge that’s been set, that’s the high bar.” Housing is an area universities need to
think harder about said Richardson. “How many universities provide accommodation for postgraduate students, and if not, why not when the costs of housing are extortionate? “When you’re looking at attracting
international researchers in somewhere like London, where £1,000 a month gets you a cupboard under the stairs like Harry Potter, what role can universities fulfil in
helping to provide those housing? And not just residential, could we provide live/work space, not just for academics but also for students who might want to stay on for two or three years perhaps in a shared space? And for those universities who are seeing a reduction in their numbers of students and researchers, and by definition therefore a reduced demand for space, are there opportunities to move into straightforward residential accommodation for the wider community. And in some parts of the country where commercial markets exist, could even the university itself become a housing developer? I can see that in a small number of places.” Richardson said there are also
opportunities for universities to take space from the NHS Estate, which itself needs to be smaller at the local level. “This is most relevant for universities in urban centres which tend to be based beside an NHS institution of some kind.”
£20 million awarded to develop Institute of Coding for next generation of specialists
THE HEFCE has awarded £20m to a consortium of more than 60 universities, businesses and industry experts to establish an Institute of Coding. The institute will create new degree-level
courses to equip people with the digital skills needed for the economy. The consortium is formed of businesses
including IBM, Cisco, BT and Microsoft, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 25 universities, and professional bodies such as the British Computer Society and CREST.
The 25 universities involved, led by the
University of Bath, range from sector leaders in business and computer science (UCL and Newcastle University) to experts in arts and design (University of the Arts) to specialists in widening participation and outreach (Open University and Birkbeck, University of London). Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said:
“A world-class pipeline of digital skills are essential to the UK’s ability to shape our future. By working together, universities, employers and industry leaders can help
graduates build the right skills, in fields from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence to industrial design. “The Institute of Coding will play a
central role in this. Employers will have a tangible input to the curriculum, working hand-in-hand with universities to develop specialist skills in areas where they are needed most. As we have outlined in the Industrial Strategy, this is part of our ambition to embrace technological change and give us a more competitive edge in the future.”
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