Thousands of students could soon be housed in new Manchester Metropolitan University skyscraper halls

Thousands more students could live in Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) halls under new plans as bosses eye expansion.

MMU has unveiled proposals to radically alter its Cambridge Street halls, which are situated near the All Saints Park campus. Uni chiefs want to demolish two low rise halls of residence containing 770 bedrooms and replace them with towers and blocks.

There would be 2,330 student rooms in the new scheme, a rise of 1,560. The first phase is hoped to be completed in September 2029, and will comprise 1,126 bedrooms in a 24-storey tower alongside two 11 storey buildings and an eight storey block, developer partner Unite Students said.

The second phase will add 1,204 bedrooms by the following year, in a 30 storey skyscraper, two 13 storey towers, and an eight storey block.

“Through the proposed partnership, our goal is to ensure that as many students as possible have access to high-quality, modern accommodation on campus,” Unite said in a statement.

“Cambridge Halls has been identified as a potential redevelopment site that could create 2,330 student beds on the university campus. The existing accommodation is thirty years old and provides only 770 beds with shared bathrooms and requires significant modernisation to meet contemporary student needs.”

The plans also include space for shops and a health or wellbeing space on Cambridge Street.

It’s not the only change coming to MMU’s All Saints Campus, as the institution has secured planning permission for a ‘funky’ new library right next to the Mancunian Way flyover.

Andrew Fallon, MMU’s director of estates, said the 13-storey facility ‘will be a striking addition to our estate and the Oxford Road skyline, serving as an iconic All Saints architectural