University Challenge: How do you create student accommodation which will make the occupants healthier and happier? A sitting room is one solution.

Publication: The Sunday Times (December 18, 2022)

Author: Katrina Burroughs

Philippa and Tom Charrier are property developers on a mission to improve student wellbeing. Philippa, a mother of three, says: "Half of young people go into higher education and one third are experiencing mental health issues. I look at that figure and think that could be one of our children. It breaks my heart."

She and her husband design and manage student houses in Lancaster and have written a guide to creating spaces that support their young occupants. With reports of student suicides at Bristol and Cambridge universities and the dangers of damp to physical health in the headlines, the Charriers believe the need for healthy student homes has never been more urgent.

Philippa, 45, an architect, and Tom, 41, a landscape architect, both worked on urban regeneration projects in the UK and Australia before founding FAT Properties to provide high-quality student accommodation. In 2013 they bought their first student let in Lancaster. They chose the city as their focus for its proximity to their Lake District home, where they live with their children India, 11, Hugo, 9, and Isabella, 5. A property portfolio grew alongside the kids and now the couple manage 18 houses for about 70 students in the city.

The Charriers decided to move into the field of undergraduate housing when Philippa was pregnant with Hugo. "It was an area where we really knew we could make a difference," she says. "I went round these student houses and was absolutely horrified at the state of them. They'd got a lot smaller since we studied. When I was a student I lived in a bit of a dive, but there was social space. We could all sit round and have toast and jam after a night out and talk about what had happened. I was going round, a toddler holding my hand and a baby in my tummy, and I got maternal, looking at these houses with students crammed in together. I thought, 'I wouldn't want my child living in a space like this, so why would any parent?'"

"We have people saying, 'They're only students.' Imagine if someone said they're only women."

Tom explains the housing market history behind these badly maintained, cramped converted properties. "There had been an explosion in the buy-to-let market back in the Nineties and landlords had seen very easy profits letting to students. They'd only be there for a year so the level of support and design quality could be very low. They would chop bedrooms in half, or knock out a lounge. There was scope for landlords to do a frankly crap job."

New-build halls of residence were often just as grim as the conversions. The year they launched FAT Properties, "prison-like" student accommodation at University College London won the Carbuncle Cup for "worst design in architecture".

And the luxury end of the student housing market was not much better. Purpose-built developments, with studio apartments, had impressive facilities and zero mould, but living alone in a strange city can lead to social isolation. Tom says: "Only the most confident and extrovert people will go out and meet others and make friends. Research [carried out by the National Institute on Aging] found that loneliness is as big a risk to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day."

According to the Charriers, both extremes – the butchered rooms and the single-occupant luxury studios – should come with a health warning. So they devised the FAT blueprint for student living that features space for socialising and quiet study, in well-maintained, homely interiors.

They have seen improvements over the last decade in the student accommodation sector. Outstanding examples of student housing, with Loughborough and Swansea scoring particularly highly. In the private sector, there has been a push to professionalise the industry in response to increased regulation and competition from new operators, Tom says. "That got us into a long-time goal. We wanted to make sure other landlords use creativity."

"The old guard is retiring. People said, 'Look at it. It's for students.' My cousin went to Oxford University and there was water dripping through the roof," says Tom. "Look at the standard of the landlord."

The Charriers believe that quality pays in terms of attracting and keeping tenants. Tom says: "We have a lot of people saying, 'They're only students.' Imagine if someone said they're only women or disabled people, how would that sound? With students it's accepted. It shouldn't be."

Tom says that better student accommodation benefits us all. "If someone goes to university and gets a better degree, that is good for society. Students can sleep better, study harder, and stay healthier. That's good for everybody. They have less anxiety and mental health problems, and increase GDP. These students are our future doctors, nurses, engineers, and we need to support them."

Surprisingly, a dining space is top of their list. "There are studies that show when people sit and eat together the quality of their food intake improves. They eat better food," Tom says.

"What about workstations? They need to be facing daylight. You need to be able to pull the chair out of the deck comfortably, and if you can get a view of greenery that's great for your productivity and creativity."