A plan has been lodged for student accommodation at a site currently occupied by a hotel in the Scottish capital.

The plan proposes to demolish the Northfield House Hotel which dates from 1870 and is not listed and replace it with a 103-bedroom student accommodation facility.

A design has been submitted for the site at south of the city centre on Lasswade Road.

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The design statement said: “This site addresses the recent move led by the University of Edinburgh to decentralise student accommodation and is thus well located to provide sustainable travel options and short trip solutions for residents to facilitate their studies.

“The proposal looks to provide a mix of studio apartments and accessible studios offering varying pricing structures and affordability.”

The Herald:

It added: “The hotel is currently closed but was previously operating on an ad hoc basis for private functions prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The owners have reviewed the business model for the hotel and have concluded that the retention of the existing house is not viable.

“The inflexibility of the existing house does not lend itself to suitable conversion to provide sufficient, modern facilities to be competitive within the Edinburgh service industry.

“The proposal is to demolish the house to make way for a new purpose built development.

“The house is not listed and there is limited architectural merit to warrant retention.”

The design has been submitted by Edinburgh-based architects 56three.

In a statement by Scott Hobbs Planning on behalf of Audley (Edinburgh) Ltd it said the applicant had engaged in pre-application discussions with Edinburgh City Council and "the proposal has been designed to take account of feedback received during the pre-application stage".

A Scottish hand sanitiser brand is set to launch into seven European countries after a rampant market entry.

Operating from a 10-acre site, in its first quarter of trading, Aberdeen-based Just Sanitise is producing in excess of one million litres a week and supplying 300 supermarkets across the UK, as well as organisations across the public and private sector.

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Founders Nicola Harland and Brent Bowie brought together an alliance of businesses with the intention of disrupting the sanitiser market category with a sustainable, convenient and affordable option.

The WHO-approved Just Sanitise formula is available to UK and European markets through an alliance encompassing a 50-strong team across manufacturing and bottling, and a distribution fleet of 75 vehicles, accommodating large-scale demand-based production and delivery.

In addition, supporting NHS Charities Together, Just Sanitise has committed to a £100,000 donation in its first year, as well as donating its sanitiser to community organisations across the UK.

Co-founder Nicola Hartland said: “Our Just Sanitise range was established to help frontline and essential workers access personal protective equipment that was both affordable and readily accessible, a response to the supply-and-demand impact we witnessed on pricing at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

“In a short time, via our alliance and its strong network, we are supplying the public sector and also working with organisations to ensure their amenities are as hygienic as possible, facilitating safe re-opening as lockdown restrictions are eased and an ongoing adherence to public health and government guidelines.”

Real estate agency JLL has said offices in Scotland’s largest cities will adapt and change as society emerges from Covid-19.

JLL cited a stable vacancy rate in both Edinburgh and Glasgow which are amongst the lowest of the UK’s key regional cities, currently standing at 3.0% and 4.4% respectively.

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Both cities are also experiencing a keen lack of Grade A stock and ongoing speculative construction is particularly low, ensuring that they will be somewhat insulated against ecomomic shocks compared to previous downturns when oversupply was more prevelant.

Cameron Stott, lead director in Edinburgh at JLL, said: “Positive sentiment is returning to both Edinburgh and Glasgow’s leasing markets. Large occupiers seeking pre-lets, often with long lead times, continue to actively persue space and new enquiries are being launched with virtual viewings taking place.

"We anticipate that a number of occupiers will adapt their requirements, in-line with the changes we forsee taking place around the office layout, and that transactions will take longer but the key office markets in Scotland are moving forward.”

According to JLL "the purpose of the office will be reimagined and it will be essential in encouraging collaboration, innovation, mentoring and team building, all things that technology struggles to replicate and cannot easily be done at home".

It said density requirements will change and "there will be an evolution in how office space is used, designed and developed".

JLL has predicted that defensive investment strategies will be adopted by investors seeking to deploy capital into Scotland’s main cities but that both Edinburgh and Glasgow continue to offer considerable value compared with many European cities.

Alasdair Humphery, head of Scotland at JLL, said: “Scottish real estate will retain its long term appeal and we expect conditions to improve towards the end of the year and into 2021.

"The significant yield compression seen in some parts of Europe has created a notable gap between these and UK cities and has caused many European and global investors look to cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow in the search for yield.

"Covid-19 has clearly led to investors adopting a more cautious approach and the inability to travel has delayed decisions, but we expect Scotland to retain its far-reaching appeal to those seeking attractive returns.”