The challenge
Councils are asked to make decisions on purpose-built student accommodation using evidence largely produced by applicants. Independent analysis changes the quality of that decision — and stands up when it is challenged.
How it works
We agree the question and the standard of proof at the outset, because evidence for a local plan and evidence for a single application are scrutinised differently.
Research runs on published and primary sources — enrolment and recruitment data, existing supply, consented pipeline, HMO stock and concentration — with the methodology written to be examined rather than taken on trust.
The report states assumptions on the page, cites its sources and holds up to challenge from the other side. Where a position cannot be evidenced, we say so rather than stretch the data.
What is included
- PBSA and shared-living need assessment
- HMO displacement analysis
- Pipeline and supply modelling
- Evidence base for local plan and policy positions
- Developer-side evidence for planning applications
Why RESI Consultancy
[Tailor this section — who uses it, and what changed as a result.]
We have sat on the other side of this work. The people delivering it have run the buildings, written the budgets and defended the numbers to owners — which is a different starting point from a framework and a benchmark.
We take no introduction fee or commission from any operator or vendor, and we do not bid for the work we advise on. Any interest that could be perceived as a conflict is declared in writing before an engagement begins.
Outcomes
Evidence that survives challenge
Methodology stated, sources cited, assumptions on the page rather than buried.
An independent position
Analysis not produced by an applicant, which changes how it is received.
A defensible policy base
Suitable for local plan examination as well as individual applications.
Common questions
Asked often enough to answer here.
Do you act for councils and developers on the same question?
Not on the same site or the same local plan. We act for both types of client, and we will decline an instruction where we hold or have recently held a conflicting position. Where there is any question, it is raised before an engagement rather than after.
Free first conversation
Tell us what is not working.
Most people arrive with a scheme that is not performing, an operator they cannot read, or a board paper due Friday. Any of those is a fine place to start. Thirty minutes, no proposal attached.