Inside the fightback against student flats in Edinburgh
This is a place as rich with history as it is character. In a past life it was frequented by highwaymen as the first stop and changeover point for the horse-drawn stagecoach to London, with its name referenced as far back as 1650. Over time, the village that occupied this crossroads has been absorbed into the growing sprawl of the capital. Cars replaced the humble wagon and tenements rose, laying the foundations for a new community.
Impressively, the essence of its origins has remained. Now, that's fading slowly before the eyes of locals who feel defeated by developers.
To this day, a pub still sits on the site once home to the coaching inn which gave this area its name, its single-story structure and double gable roof matching the original building's style. Soon, however, it will be gone.
The Willow's windows are boarded up with metal sheets; inside, a pint hasn't been pulled for over a year. This watering hole, along with the Indian takeaway, disused recording studio and another pub next door to that, is destined for the bulldozers. In their place will rise seven storeys of student flats described as an 'imposing monolithic block'.
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So far, so typical for Edinburgh where the relentless expansion of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), against the backdrop of a 'housing emergency', ranks high on the list of peoples' peeves.
However, at Jock's Lodge, this may just be the beginning of a wholesale transformation into a student village, some residents fear. Next door to the properties awaiting demolition, The Ball Room, a popular sports bar and pool hall which covers an even larger site, is being pursued by student housing developers, with a preliminary planning proposal sent to the council. Owners maintain there will be 'no change to our business for a very, very long time'.
Slightly further along to the west and set back from the street is St Margaret's House, a 1970s office block that now houses community arts spaces. The prospect of this being replaced mostly by PBSA also looms large; planning permission has already been consented for its demolition to make way for 361 student beds and 107 flats for sale. The building was put up for sale earlier this year.
Jock's Lodge (Image: The Herald) A growing sense of the community here being chipped away only deepened in February when the Church of Scotland announced it was going to close and sell Willowbrae Parish Church, which sits just off the junction.
'I think the pace and scale of change is obviously understandably really uncomfortable for a lot of people,' Danny Aston, SNP councillor for the area said.
'One of the things that's concerned me the most throughout all of these multiple applications has been that this area around Jock's Lodge is designated in the last local development plan, and the new one, as a 'local centre' which effectively means it's the closest thing to a high street this area has. Taken together these applications will really seriously undermine the value of this place for the community.
'This used to be somewhere where people came to meet up, have a drink, maybe have something to eat - and that's being greatly diminished. And I certainly wouldn't blame anyone on the other side of the road for feeling concerned about suddenly seven stories appearing in front of them, and the effect that will have on this really busy junction.'
Martin O'Donnell, who lives just around the corner on Willowbrae Road, points out the closure of the pub has meant more than locals simply losing a place to have a drink. 'A lot of community groups met there, and it hosted public meetings,' he said.
'One of the main issues is the community having some facility to go to, be it shopping or hospitality. I would like to see more space in the development devoted for public amenities.
'If you come down Willowbrae you get a nice perspective of Jock's Lodge, the Willow pub and that's now going to be a huge block.'
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The approved plans for a 191-bed block on the corner of Jock's Lodge and Smokey Brae were initially refused by councillors in 2023 after hundreds joined a local campaign opposing the development, arguing it would 'change the nature of the community'. However, this decision was overturned on appeal by the Scottish Government, in line with other similarly unpopular PBSA projects across the city that have gained consent.
Other arguments made against the plans when they were considered in the City Chambers included that the building would be too tall and 'imposing', and as the site wasn't close to any university campuses it wasn't the 'right site for student accommodation'.
Cllr Aston said at the meeting held two years ago: 'In the place of six commercial units – including the two pubs – there will only be one pub and the common room of the student accommodation which does not contribute to the local area.'
This month he said there was now a 'question mark' over whether a bar and restaurant on the ground floor would still form part of the new development.
'I went to the planning committee and made the case on behalf of the community against the application,' he added. 'The committee agreed with me on that occasion, I think they made the right decision. I think the government reporter looked at it and made the wrong decision.'
Kirsty Pattison from the Save Jock's Lodge campaign said: 'It does feel this area is completely under threat. I do get we need development, I understand that. I've grown up in this area. Cities change, but it just feels like we've been forgotten about for so long - Jock's Lodge, Craigentinny, Lochend have been forgotten about for so long.
'Now they're going to change the whole of Jock's Lodge, if all of it becomes student flats that's a material change.
'The church is going up for sale, that is a listed building so at least that can't be turned into PBSA.' She added discussions were ongoing about the possibility of pursuing a community buyout.
Cllr Aston added: 'It's really important to protect the church. I've had conversations with local people who are really keen to make sure that it remains a space available to the community.
'There's been some quite positive developments which I can't unfortunately go into at this time, so it's really important and I am hopeful ultimately that it can remain open to the community in one way or another. A community buyout option is one of the options that's being discussed, but there are other options available.'
The Edinburgh-based artist and activist known as Bonnie Prince Bob, who grew up at Jock's Lodge, said the council had 'allowed private developers to once again change the entire aesthetic of an area that's been the same way for a long time'.
He said: 'I grew up here on the front street, at first glance it's not the most, you know, salubrious, inspiring area. It's a main thoroughfare - it's actually the main road to London. But it actually has a good community vibe. It's got a lot of charm, this area - there's a lot of people who have lived here for a long time.
'It's going to change. The Jock's Lodge pub has always been that single elevation pub on the corner. It's been a watering hole, a libation hole for a long, long time. When you approach this junction, whether it's from Smokey Brae, Willoebrae Road, whichever side you approach this junction from, it's going to change dramatically how that is. It's going to become much more closed in.
Bonnie Prince Bob and Shaukat Ali (Image: The Herald) 'If you approach this junction, there's space - there's airspace. And I don't think people appreciate how important that is until that's gone.
'When that's gone you're suddenly faced with this imposing monolithic block. It's depressing, it changes the vibe entirely. I feel sorry for the people who live opposite it.'
'I believe this area does have a bit of charm, a bit of character at the moment and it will become this amorphous place. If you poll the people who live here, pretty much everybody is opposed to it.'
Connor Robertson, an academic from Leith, told The Herald that the situation at Jock's Lodge is a perfect example of gentrification in action.
He argued the proposed changes will push out local residents and businesses in favor of wealthier newcomers, eroding the area's traditional character and community ties.
'The universities themselves and other multinational conglomerates play an active role in gentrification of certain areas,' he said.
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'There's a transient student population and there's a homogeneous, lukewarm, vacuous aesthetic to the whole place. There's nothing genuine or real or authentic to what parts of the city used to be and it all just ends up looking the same.
'With every single new or proposed PBSA block every one I speak to is like 'oh more student housing, when's there going to be enough student housing'. No one I know wants to have more.
'They've completely mismanaged the city, Edinburgh is another symbol of a wider global problem. Gentrification of areas that once were producers and now, the whole thing is based on consumption. And who can consume? The middle class can consume, so the working-class people are if not displaced then marginalised.'
Properties on the west of The Willow were sold to developers by Shaukat Ali, who runs a corner shop across the road. He said student accommodation was not his preferred option for the site but 'no person ever came wanting to build houses'.
He said: 'If there was an alternative, if there were different people who say 'we want to do this, we want to do that' I would go for something different.
'It's the council's fault and the government's fault. You can't blame that on people who want to make a lot of money. It's not my fault - it's the system that's wrong.
'If the council or the government said we'll buy this site - they had lots of time to do it - and will make it affordable housing. But they didn't want to do it.'
Cllr Aston added: 'This shows us that the incentives that are stacked up in favour of developing purpose-built student accommodation are significant for developers.
'Some of the obligations that are placed on mainstream housing developments simply don't apply to student accommodation; there's much lower space standards in terms of the living arrangements for the students.'
Edinburgh Council is in the process of drawing up new non-statutory planning guidance for student housing developers, which it says will 'seek to ensure the provision of good quality PBSA in appropriate locations whilst protecting the character of existing areas'.
However, Councillor Aston said he wasn't getting his hopes up that it would have the desired effect.
'In the new city development plan the classification for PBSA is commercial, and I can understand some of the reasoning behind that.
'It's not treating it as housing because I think it's pretty clear it does belong in a different category from that. But, I'm concerned that potentially undermines some of the arguments that can clearly be made against applications like the one here at Jock's Lodge - that it's undermining the commercial heart of the community. If it's then possible to point at the most important piece of planning guidance, the City Plan, and say actually that categorises it as a commercial development, I have concerns about that.'
In response to the growth of student accommodation, Leith Central Community Council (LCCC) recently called for a moratorium on further PBSA developments in Leith, highlighting the area as being home to a third of Edinburgh's PBSA beds (6332) and 67% of all the city's PBSA buildings.
The approved plan for Jock's Lodge PBSA (Image: Allumno) In a statement the group said: '[We] oppose any new PBSA developments in the Leith area, citing the absence of a local university, the oversaturation of current PBSA's in Leith, and the pressing need for housing that serves long-term residents and diverse community needs.
'Leith is a vibrant, mixed community, and further PBSA developments risk upsetting this balance by increasing transient populations and reducing the availability of housing for families, key workers, and long-term residents.'
Speaking to The Herald, LCCC chair Charlotte Encombe said: 'I'm not a planning expert but I can feel something in my bones when something is just not right.
'We have no problem with students, we're all very happy with students. But I think we really need to concentrate on getting affordable housing in the centre of Edinburgh. That is mainly the reason we've gone in quite hard.
'Enough is enough. All we do is PBSAs, PBSAs, PBSAs.
'It is a very profitable activity. It's just very difficult for a community council, a group of volunteers with mixed expertise, to try and stem this flood of more and more.'
Cllr Aston said he believed a moratorium on new student accommodation blocks in areas already heavily concentrated with such developments is 'something we should very seriously consider'.
He said: 'I suppose I would expect there not to be a shortage of communities that would put themselves forward.
'It would then be a matter for councillors to decide, if we were going to pursue that, which of those communities that felt they were oversaturated with student accommodation would be part of the moratorium. Or indeed, if we would look more widely than that.'
Restrictions on PBSA are not unprecedented in Scotland. In Glasgow, new PBSA developments were effectively put on hold from 2019 to 2021 while the council engaged with various stakeholders to gather their views on student housing in the city, responding to concerns about an over-concentration of such provision.
Following this consultation, the authority introduced new planning guidelines specifying that new student housing would no longer be supported in two areas: South Partick and Yorkhill, and Cowcaddens and Townhead.
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Meanwhile, The Cockburn Association, Edinburgh's heritage watchdog, warned last month that across Edinburgh, the "continued proliferation of PBSA" was "reshaping both the physical character of neighbourhoods and the daily life of the communities within them'.
It said: 'From the tightly packed crescents of Marchmont and the Southside to the narrow streets of the Old Town and city fringe, developers are increasingly targeting former commercial premises, brownfield sites, and even viable historic buildings as opportunities for large-scale student accommodation.'
Rather than 'relying on speculative delivery and developer-led policy formation,' it added, "it may be time to reassert a civic-led approach that places the needs of communities, students, and heritage on equal footing'.
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