Asbestos-ridden offices in Leicester could be demolished for student flats

An asbestos-ridden building in the city could be demolished to make way for new student flats. The offices at 18-20 York Road are being pursued by My Student Digs as its next project.

The company is proposing to bulldoze the two-storey “dilapidated” building and erect a five-storey accommodation block in its place. The new building would contain 20 studios if Leicester City Council grants permission for the project, documents uploaded to the authority’s planning portal show.

The applicant said there are numerous types of asbestos throughout the building, some of which are considered to be a high health and safety risk. Because of this, it is “more feasible” to demolish the building than to bring it back into use, they added. The office conversion was also described as “financially unviable”.

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My Student Digs said the new flats will be aimed at De Montfort University Leicester students given their proximity to the campus. It originally proposed 31 studios for the new development.

However, after consulting the city council, he reduced the number of rooms and the height of the building. The documents say the original proposals were deemed “excessive” and “too prominent” by the authority’s planning department.

The building will also have student common areas, a laundry room and bicycle storage. No parking spaces are proposed for the site.

A public consultation on the scheme will run until Wednesday 10 July. A target decision date has been set for Thursday, August 8.