Initial plans would have seen 500 units of student accommodation being delivered at the site
15:06, 27 May 2026Updated 15:16, 27 May 2026
The disused Debenhams building occupies a crucial part of the Old Market Square (Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post )
Plans to turn Nottingham’s former Debenhams building into student accommodation are now said to be unviable in the latest setback for progress on the historic site.
One civic expert fears the latest update on the Old Market Square building could see it standing empty for another three or four years.
The city council leader has said in the past that demand for student accommodation has “cooled” and £300 million was wiped off the value of one major student housing provider earlier this year, with the Unite Group saying falling demand was concentrated in cities like Nottingham.
Those pressures now seem to have affected plans to create 500 units of student accommodation at the former Debenhams building.
The owners of the site are now exploring “alternative uses” for it – five years after it first became vacant.
Concern has been growing at the state of the site and its impact on Nottingham’s economy – with a Nottingham Post campaign on the issue hearing from civic experts, economic chiefs and MPs about the need for action.
A legal order was recently secured to try and prevent youths from breaking into the site – with yobs throwing rocks from the building’s roof in one incident.
Nottingham’s Debenhams branch closed in May 2021 and the site remains in its longest period of inactivity since Robert and Edward Dickinson first opened their drapery store there in 1846.
At a December 2024 meeting, developers outlined a vision for the Debenhams building to house student accommodation and they indicated that a planning application would be submitted in 2025.
That has never materialised and in a recent update, Nottingham City Council said it was arranging a meeting with the Debenhams building owners to discuss their plans.
Asked for an update on talks, a Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “We are in dialogue with the owner of the building to better understand the development options for the site.
“The previously proposed student accommodation conversion does not currently appear to be deliverable and alternative uses are now being explored by the owner.
“There are significant financial viability challenges associated with bringing the building back into use.
“The council is working with Homes England to better understand those challenges and will continue to explore whether public sector support could help unlock development opportunities for the site, including through ongoing discussions with the East Midlands Combined County Authority.”
Homes England, which is already heavily involved in the Broad Marsh redevelopment, is working with Nottingham City Council on the development of a strategic pipeline of housing for the area and the Debenhams building could now form part of those plans.
A city council map previously indicated that the 500 units of student accommodation at Debenhams could have been ready for the academic year starting in September 2028.
The plans would have seen some units in the Debenhams building itself, alongside the creation of an 18-storey block of flats behind it, whilst the ground floor could have been used for a mixture of retail and hospitality.
Graham Woodward, chair of the Nottingham Civic Society, is backing our campaign (Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
Graham Woodward, the chairman of the Nottingham Civic Society, said: “We’d welcome the involvement of Homes England, because they’re a professional organisation and they’re not in it just for the money, they’re interested in the wider benefits.
“Obviously we would be disappointed if it delays the project unnecessarily, but I could see this carrying on for another three or four years before it’s resolved and of course, Homes England will be concentrating on the Broad Marsh.
“I think they do need to secure the building in the meantime, but the council can’t seem to make up its mind on the requirement for student accommodation, so we’d also like a strategic statement from the universities on what they think they need, so we’ve got a baseline to work off.”
The Debenhams site was first bought by Long Row Properties Limited in 2017, on the assumption that the Debenhams store would provide a continuous income stream, a belief that proved short-lived when Nottingham’s branch closed four years later.
Longmead Capital now manages the site on behalf of Long Row Properties. Our campaign is calling for a clear timeframe from Longmead Capital on when the public can finally expect some official plans to be lodged with Nottingham City Council, but the company has still not responded to repeated requests for comment.
