Students snap up luxury pads in Southernhay

Demand for luxury student accommodation in Exeter has gone through the roof following the release of the first phase of a high-end, multi-million-pound development located in the heart of the city.

Dean Clarke Lofts, located in the former Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, initially released 10 lofts on Saturday 16 March, but the accommodation – which includes features such as mezzanine-level double bedrooms, high-speed broadband and designer kitchens – proved so popular among both UK and overseas University of Exeter students, that a second phase of studios has been released ahead of schedule in order to meet demand.

Steve Travé, managing director of Academy Property, which is marketing the apartments on behalf of Dean Clarke Estate Ltd, the company behind the development, said: “Enquiry rates have been high from both international and UK students from the outset, affirming our belief that there is indeed demand for this type of luxury student accommodation in Exeter. Once students see the fantastic space, standards and high specification they put in applications very quickly, after checking with their parents first!”

Kwame Amponsah is an international student from Ghana studying accounting and finance at Exeter University and he recently let an apartment. Kwame says: “I am very excited to soon be living at Dean Clarke Lofts. The lofts are amazing, so big and roomy and very luxurious and the location is right in the centre of Exeter near the shops and restaurants.”

During the launch event, Academy Property opened two show lofts and this led to the first phase of ten apartments being let within only four weeks – and nearly half of phase two lofts are already reserved.

Mark Edworthy, managing director of Dean Clarke Estate Limited, and his team have taken advantage of the opportunities that are currently being presented by the booming student accommodation market. He is also making the city far more accessible to Far Eastern students with help from Ryan Siyi Dong, a PhD mathematics student and former President of the Chinese Society, who assisted in the translation of the Dean Clarke Lofts website and promotional video.

Around 30 per cent of the university’s international community is from mainland china.

“The Chinese Society have been incredibly supportive of the development and we are really pleased to have gained their support and been able to adapt both the website and video as this is helping with our international marketing efforts,” said Mark.

The first students are expected to move in at the start of the 2013/14 academic year, on a 51-week agreement.

“Considering we have only just really got into the throes of marketing the lofts following our initial launch, we have already let half, which is very encouraging as we had the long Easter break to contend with,” said Steve.

Click here more information about Dean Clarke Lofts, visit or call 08453 191 600.