SWANSEA University’s largest student residence, the Hendrefoelan Student Village, has been put up for sale to raise funds for the university’s second campus.

Replacement housing will be built at the new Fabian Way campus, to satisfy demand for student accommodation once the Hendrefoelan site is sold.

The older part of the village will be sold first with the second section, Woodside, to follow when the second phase of the Fabian Way Campus is complete.

News of the sale was greeted with mixed feelings by students living at Hendrefoelan, many of whom said they would miss the community feel of the village.

Hendrefoelan resident Alex Smith said: “I think it will alter the community feel. I think with the village a lot of people get to know each other, you can go over to other people’s flats and it’s just easier than people being in a building like halls.”

Swansea Students’ Union Welfare Officer, Charlotte Britton, expressed her concerns about the students living at Hendrefoelan after the first section is sold: “I think if done properly [the sale and move], it won’t affect students in a bad way… but I do have concerns that if it’s not thought through enough students might feel a bit isolated when the first section gets sold off.”

Resident Scott Cooper said: “It’ll make it easier to get to lectures in the morning, but I do quite like being in the village. It’s nice to just have a residential area. You get a nice community feel in the village, I’m not sure if you get that on campus. But it would be a lot closer to lectures and you probably wouldn’t have to pay £395 for a bus pass.”

The 44-acre site, which currently houses more than 1,600 students, is being sold off through sealed bids to the estate agent Savills. The first phase should be ready for redevelopment by 2015 and it is expected that the site will attract a great deal of interest from house builders.

Resident William Kwabwe said: “I live in Woodside and it’s not exactly buzzing, but I don’t feel like I’m isolated. It’d be a bit unfair for someone to spend their whole three years in Woodside, but that won’t happen. If it’s just for a year, you just get used to it.”

“These are very exciting times for the university as our ambitious expansion plans are now coming to fruition,” said the pro-vice chancellor, Iwan Davies.

“We will be creating purpose-built student accommodation on the new campus and the sale of Hendrefoilan forms an integral part of our sustainable business plan for financing our campus development, both at the new campus and on Singleton Park.

“These developments are also part of our commitment to improving the student experience.”
The new campus will begin construction early next year and will focus on science and Innovation. The Fabian Way student residence is expected to open in the summer of 2015.