237 more apartments to be built at former office block in Central Milton Keynes

Plans to build 237 more apartments in Central Mlton Keynes have been approved by MK City Council.

The Urban Village Group has been given planning permission to convert the former Westminster House block of offices into ‘high quality’ build-to-rent flats.

They say the project will bring more “much-needed” homes to the city centre.

Westminster House, which is on Avebury Boulevard, was once occupied by AGF insurance. Three more floors will be added to the three-storey building to make room for the 237 apartments plus a residents’ gym, cinema, communal entertainment facility and residents’ work spaces.

The scheme will also include secure parking provision for tenants.

Urban Village Group chief executive officer Nick Sellman Construction Enquirer news: “There is a strong and growing demand for homes in the private rented sector and our Westminster House development will help to address the growing requirement in the Milton Keynes region.

The apartments will be among hundreds being built at CMK. Many are for rental only, whiles others are for private sale.

MK Council figures show 730 new apartments have been completed since 2018, plus 261 young people’s flats at the new YMCA building. But well over1,000 more are in the pipeline.

Some are a ‘modest’ two or three storeys tall but others, such as the recently completed 294 apartment scheme in Avebury Boulevard’s Aubrey Place, tower above the skyline at 17 storeys.

King of the high rise will be the ‘MK Gateway’ development – 288 apartments to be built in one massive 27-storey block at the council’s former Saxon Court housing offices..

In July, a Citizen investigation showed many apartments in CMK had been on the market for up to two years without selling.

But Nick Sellman said the demand for rental apartments was growing.

“Currently, there are 4.5m households in England now renting, representing 20% of the market, which has increased from 10% in 2001.

“In the next 15 to 20 years, more people are expected to rent rather than own their own homes. As the national housing shortage continues... there is significant scope for major growth in the build-to-rent sector.”