More than 1,000 new student bedrooms in four multi-storey blocks are to be created once a 'difficult to let' office complex has been demolished.

The majority of the premises at Mercia Business Village, in Torwood Close, near Warwick University, are either vacant or on short-term lets. The owners of many of those properties have backed the plan, which the developer says will create 450 construction and supply jobs.

But not everyone was in favour of the scheme when it came before Coventry City Council's planning committee. A spokesman from the Coventry Society quoted from a report which said there was a surplus of student places elsewhere in the city.

Developer Simon Murray-Twinn of Skybridge Properties explained to the meeting that the price of upgrading the offices, which were built in the 1980s, was not cost-effective, with owners complaining that they were not energy efficient.

And he added that the plans before the council followed two years of collaboration with planning chiefs.

He said: "This application focuses solely on meeting the under-supply at Warwick University, who say they intend to grow the campus to 34,000 students.

"Student numbers today are 25,588 – that is an increase of 8,412 over the next five years beyond the current under-supply."

He added that all this would put extra pressure on Houses in Multiple Occupation – or HMOs – in the area, and went on to explain that the city council would recieve an annual ground rent of £300,000 over a 16-year period, while 450 jobs, including a number of apprenticeships, would be created by the project.

Tim Brown, vice-chairman of Coventry Society, spoke against the plans on two grounds – the loss of employment land and the oversupply of purpose built student accommodation.

He told the meeting: "The council's draft update of the local plan acknowledges that there is insufficient employment land in the city and it believes that this gap could be filled with sites being allocated by joint councils in their local plans, but there is no indication that this is happening.

"We acknowledge the applicant's report which states that there is a high vacancy rate, but we believe that the site could be redeveloped for office and business use that meets current requirements."

He added that a council report in 2023/24 showed a surplus of student spaces across the city and that managers of those accommodation blocks were offering incentives such as free travel passes to and from Warwick University.

Cllr John McNicholas also raised the issue of employment land being lost. He said: "Let's go back to 1988 when it was approved to develop this land. I believe that the small business units were argued for on the basis that they were starter units in association with the university. In my mind it is a serious loss and we should take that into account."

The plans for the 1,006 student bedrooms in blocks up to eight storeys high were unanimously approved.

The developer will also contribute up to £981,000 as part of a section 106 agreement, with £361,000 going towards enhancing parks and open spaces within the Westwood and Wainbody wards.