A limited number of hotel-class en suite rooms will become available at Manchester and Salford’s newest student accommodation building Riverside House in the coming months.
Although Riverside, on the bank of the River Irwell on Blackfriars Road, officially sold out in September, accommodations managers are able to release a number of selected rooms on a short term let basis from now until mid-August.
Portergate Property Management, which runs the successful 242-room residence, has 33 rooms coming free on a week-by-week basis over Christmas and into the New Year through to Easter.
Riverside is a highly popular first choice home-from-home for students studying at the University of Salford, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.
Sebastian MacNally, trainee accommodation manager at Riverside, says: “Although we sold out in September, there are a number of residents whose studies do not follow the standard academic year and so will be leaving us at various dates during the next six months.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for students looking for the first time or needing to switch their accommodation for a room in a residence that is a class above the norm.
“We will do everything we can to help students and their parents make the right choice and smooth their transition into life in Riverside.”
The North West student accommodation sector has experienced a boom year for student applications and Riverside sold out in record time this summer.
Karen Preece, managing director of Portergate Property Management, said: ““In Manchester and Salford we are seeing record numbers of students looking for high quality accommodation like Riverside.
“We already know that applications to reserve a room from September 2016 are likely to be just as high so we are advising new students to reserve their place now for both the New Year and September 2016.”
Karen praised the multi-lingual Riverside House team for their hard work and dedication since the development opened its doors.
She said: “The tremendously high standards we set reflect the demands and expectations of today’s students, and in particular their parents, who expect their sons and daughters to live in hotel-class accommodation while they enjoy their higher education.”
Portergate Property Management was one of the first UK student accommodation providers to predict the new market for a higher standard of student living.
And with Riverside performing so well in the Salford and Manchester market, just two years after first opening in September 2013, Portergate is rolling out the concept across the North West.
Building work is moving ahead at its Friargate development in Preston, in the city’s university quarter.
The £18 million transformation of the 1.5 acre site will bring three new retail premises and the creation of a 244 bedroomed building aimed at providing Portergate’s brand of hotel-style accommodation to students at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Part of that high-quality accommodation on offer is also aimed at post graduate students at the university and apprentices and key workers in Preston’s high-tech manufacturing sector and new Enterprise Zone. The development is scheduled for completion next year.
Karen added: “We expect interest in Friargate to be just as strong as we have experienced at Riverside; enquiries are already coming in for next year.
“We are advising students and their parents to keep checking our website for full pricing information and we are able to take reservations now for September 2016.”
For more details of Riverside and Friargate and the rooms available now and in September 2016, please visit www.studentaccommodation.properties
