Sunderland wins award for students accommodation

The annual North East Student Housing Awards recognise and celebrate landlords providing students with top quality housing.

For the second consecutive year the city's BedeBrooke won in the Small Student Landlords category, and the University of Sunderland's Scotia Quays Halls of Residence for Student Hall of the Year.

The founder of the NESHA housing awards is Paul Allison who used to be a student in Sunderland and recognises the positive effect quality accommodation can have on student life in the region's university cities for the tens of thousands of young people from around the world who call them home while they are studying here.

Members of the judging panel invited by the awards organisers to share their accredited, specialist knowledge and experience of improving the student and private rented sector, include representatives from Sunderland City Council and other public and private sector housing and accommodation teams.

Sunderland City Council works extensively with private landlords, large and small, providing practical help and support to improve and maintain high standards of accommodation with 1,340 accredited properties and 196 accredited landlords with numbers continuing to grow.

Portfolio Holder for Health, Housing and Adult Services, Councillor Graeme Miller said: "Firstly I'd like to congratulate BedeBrooke and the University of Sunderland and secondly to encourage more private landlords to come forward to enter the awards next year.

"As a city we work hard with housing partners to make sure students have access to high quality accommodation, and these awards recognise landlords’ contribution to this continual process."

Paul Allison, housing specialist and student housing magazine publisher, said: “These awards provide recognition for the hard work and innovation in student housing and accommodation, with more and more private landlords going above and beyond statutory housing legislation.

“The standards of entries in these annual awards gets higher ever year, which is helping encourage even more people to improve their rental properties.”

Philip Shaw from BedeBrooke said: “As a small student landlord it is a fantastic achievement to be recognised by our peers and our students for the services we provide. We are proud of the award, which has made us even more determined to help raise and maintain standards"

And, accommodation services manager at the University of Sunderland, Denise Ridley, said: "As a university city we all work hard to provide high quality, safe and secure accommodation for all our students.

​“ The NESHA awards help reinforce the message to students that the standards of housing they need and expect are being met and even exceeded here in Sunderland.”