THE University for the Creative Arts (UCA) welcomed over 220 visitors to its Farnham campus to review proposed plans for new student residencies.

UCA is proposing to provide around 245 state-of-the-art bedrooms and new collaborative communal spaces, to ensure the university continues to meet the needs of its current and future students.

Currently, the university can only accommodate around 380 of its 700 first year students in this year’s intake.

This proposal will see a net increase of around 210 rooms, meaning this figure could rise to accommodate almost 600 students.

It comes after students in 2016 were left in a mini housing crisis when they found themselves homeless for the first few weeks of term.

Students pointed towards the government’s funding rules which allowed universities across England to recruit an unlimited number of home and EU undergraduate students.

This led to UCA, amongst a number of other universities, offering more places to students than they had accommodation for that academic year.

Freshers were forced to turn to landlords in the town, stay in hotels and in some cases travel to and from their homes around the country for course lectures.

As part of the residencies project, the current staff base in the main hall will be demolished and staff will move into a new office block.

Another part of the project will be upgrading current parking areas so that it is surfaced in tarmac, has good drainage and is suitably lit.

The new parking area will have clearly defined spaces for disabled users, car sharers, motocyclists and charging points for electric vehicles.

UCA staff also told the Herald that feedback had been “overwhemingly positive from residents”.

The aim is for this contemporary, fully accessible accommodation block to be completed by August 2020, ready for the September intake.

Professor Bashir Makhoul, vice-chancellor of UCA, said: “UCA is incredibly proud to have been part of the Farnham community for the past 150 years, during which time both the University and the town have experienced many changes, including the growth and development of their strong creative reputations.

“Enhancing UCA’s facilities plays an important role in maintaining our reputation as the leading university for the creative industries, and in continuing to attract talented students and staff to both UCA and the Farnham community.”

In addition to relieving pressure on the local housing market, the new student residencies will also support UCA’s significant economic contribution to the Farnham community.

Alan Cooke, deputy vice-chancellor of the university, added: “This is an important and necessary step for UCA Farnham, which currently has a lower student-to-bed ratio than its peers.

“We would like to thank everyone who took the time to view our proposals for new student accommodation last week and for sharing their feedback with us.

“We will be reviewing comments over the next few weeks as we continue to develop our proposals.

“We look forward to working with Waverley Borough Council and the Farnham community as we progress with our exciting plans.”

Another project currently underway at the Farnham UCA campus is construction on a new film and media centre.

Work began on the £4 million building in November 2017 and is due to be completed by December 2018.

It will be a two-storey building comprising of a lecture theatre, film and rehearsal studios, and a new “state-of-the-art” music technology suite.

The new centre will be located at the rear of the UCA site and has been designed by London-based Pascall+Watson Architects.

Information and feedback forms for the new residencies project will remain on display in the university foyer until April 6, or alternatively you can give feedback online at www.uca-farnham-srp.co.uk.