Belfast's student building boom is at an end

The building boom in student housing in Belfast is over, a leading property consultancy has concluded.

Around 7,000 student rooms have been developed in the city over the last decade.

The consultancy firm Savills said further development is currently unviable and "market sentiment is that this sector is fully satisfied".

It made the comments as part of a planning application which was submitted last week.

Savills produced a "viability report" for a developer who is seeking to demolish an office block and replace it with tourist accommodation.

The report goes through potential uses for the site and explains if they are commercially viable.

It says that it costs around £100,000 per room to build a student scheme.

It adds that Alma Place, a 393-bedroom scheme in Belfast, was sold out of insolvency earlier this year at a value of around £66,000 a room, demonstrating the unviability of new construction.

The report also looks at the occupancy of existing student developments and said they are "now below anticipated levels".

It adds: "Savills have a dedicated student accommodation team, and their research suggests that of these new schemes around 65% - 70% are fully occupied and at least one has sought to change planning to enable short term lets."

The report echoes findings in the annual Belfast "crane survey" which was published earlier this year.

The survey, produced by Deloitte, analyses the progress of major construction schemes in the city.

It found that no new student schemes started construction in 2025 while the preceding decade had seen a constant stream of new developments.

It added that around 1,200 bed spaces were still under construction and are due to be delivered this year.

These include Queens University's Weavers Hall scheme, which is part of a wider redevelopment of the Movie House cinema site on the Dublin Road.

A further 4,000 rooms were in the planning or pre-planning stage but not all of these are likely to proceed in the current climate.

The decade-long building boom was initially driven by the expansion of Ulster University's campus on the northern edge of Belfast city centre.

The increasing numbers of overseas students attending the local universities also added to demand.

The wider purpose-built student housing market across the UK is also showing signs of cooling.

Unite, the largest provider, saw its share price fall sharply in February when it downgraded its earnings and bookings guidance for 2026.