Fallowfield residences building work powers ahead

30 Sep 2026

New high-quality residences for students at our Fallowfield campus, with some of the world’s most advanced sustainability credentials, have continued to develop over the summer

The accommodation, which is currently under construction and achieved financial close this summer, will provide 3,300 new, modern rooms and shared social facilities. These will include a student bar, bookable social and study spaces, music practice rooms and dedicated wellbeing facilities.

It’s one of the most significant investments in improved student accommodation in the country.

As part of our commitment to providing an outstanding student experience, residents will also receive strong University-led provision, with services including cleaning, ResLife support and security, and a new student social hub in the heart of the site.

In keeping with the University’s sustainability and social responsibility priorities, the new residences will have exceptionally low energy demand, net zero carbon operations and a major programme of biodiversity, wellbeing and social value measures. The redevelopment is set to become one of the world's largest single-phase Passivhaus student accommodation developments.

It will be a wellbeing-led living environment designed around daylight, air quality, acoustic performance, accessibility, overheating protection and access to nature.

The project marks a significant investment into the city of Manchester. It will support new and sustained jobs, apprenticeships, local supply chain spend, business growth initiatives, employability skills, work experience, placements and funded student activities.

We are mindful of the financial pressures that many students and their families continue to face because of the rising cost of living. This means that rents in the new halls are be lower than the average rent in comparable accommodation elsewhere in the city, as well as continuing to provide a range of price points across our halls for students to choose from.

Alongside this approach – and the financial support available through accommodation bursaries for students from low-income and vulnerable backgrounds and other funds – the University will continue to work with the Students’ Union on practical initiatives that help students manage costs during their time at university, including the Student Essentials Centre, Student Hubs to access support, and ‘Cosy Campus’ spaces with facilities for preparing and heating food.

The £530 million redevelopment project will be delivered through an innovative 50-year partnership model between The University of Manchester; Equitix, one of the UK's leading investors in student accommodation; GRAHAM, a leading UK contractor and investor in the higher education and purpose-built student accommodation sectors; and Rothesay, the UK’s largest specialist pensions insurer. Rothesay is providing majority funding for the project.

The financing model has been designed to enable major long-term investment in student accommodation while protecting the University’s ability to continue investing in teaching, research, student support and staff.

The Fallowfield campus will be delivered in phases, with the first 1,000 rooms due to open in 2028. Subsequent phases, including additional accommodation and the central hub facilities, will be completed in 2029, with the remaining rooms becoming available in 2030. We want to minimise, as best we can, the disruptions this major redevelopment project will create for our students and neighbours and so mitigations are being put in place to do so.

Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor said: “Our priority is to deliver an outstanding student experience across our campus, including in student accommodation, and this redevelopment will provide the modern, high-quality accommodation and facilities that students told us they wanted, creating welcoming places to live, study, socialise and access support throughout their time at university.

“The scheme will also set a new benchmark for sustainable student accommodation, combining world-leading environmental standards with a strong focus on wellbeing, safety and community. It also shows the power of a new long-term partnership model, bringing together the University, investors, developers and delivery partners to achieve something that none of us could deliver alone. This investment will benefit our students, strengthen our University, and contribute to the continued development and success of Manchester as a global city.”

You can find out more about the project, including details on its sustainability, on our website.

Details of mitigations for current Fallowfield residents are here.