Student flats plan for abandoned Venture Tower approved despite local concerns

The development will transform the abandoned Fratton building into a 100-bedroom student residence, featuring extensions, new cladding, and communal facilities. The ground floor, which currently houses shops and takeaways, will remain as commercial space.

The project includes a mix of fully accessible rooms, studio apartments, and self-contained units and has been granted planning permission by Portsmouth City Council. Communal areas such as study rooms, a leisure room, a cinema, and a gym will be located between the first and fourth floors, with a shared terrace on the fifth floor.

Jacob Short, a Fratton campaigner, spoke against the plans, highlighting the lack of allocated parking.

"Designing a development for 100 students under the assumption that they will not require parking is unrealistic and short-sighted," he said.

He also raised concerns about potential anti-social behaviour, noise disturbances, and the effect on the well-established local community.

"Long-standing residents have built a cohesive and engaged community, and this development threatens to undermine that sense of stability and belonging," he added.

A representative from Mi Casa Developments responded to Councillor Judith Smyth's concerns about the potential for the development to accommodate other groups.

"We’ve designed the building in a modular fashion so that if, in the future, there’s no longer any need for student accommodation, we can convert it into an apartment building with minimal work to meet whatever need arises," they said.

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, chair of the planning committee, welcomed the move to bring the long-empty building back into use.

"I've known this empty building for 25 years, and having an empty building in such a prominent location for that long is not good for the city," he said.

He emphasised that the council cannot dictate the specific use of private developments.

"It is good to see that it will have a use. We’re not able to define whether it is or isn’t student accommodation—that’s not what the law allows. People who own properties are allowed to make applications and do what they want with them, and that’s the law of the land," he said.