The student accommodation specialist has secured planning consent for two city centre developments in Birmingham and Sheffield totalling 1,186 rooms.

RG Group will build a new block at International House in Birmingham alongside Unite Students’ existing development ‘The Heights’.

B&K is main contractor in Sheffield at St Vincent’s Church.

The approved development will include the full refurbishment of the former church and its grounds into a new common room and accommodation for 600 new student beds.

Both schemes are expected to be open for the 2018/19 academic year and have a combined £75 million development cost, including land.

Richard Simpson, Group Property Director for Unite Group, said: “We are delighted to have secured planning consent for these important sites in two of the UK’s most popular University cities.

“These cluster led developments will help to meet the strong demand for student accommodation in these cities and provide a safe and secure home for students.

“We will continue to progress our secured pipeline which remains focused on regional locations with strong student markets.”