CP House Proposal Raises Concern About Student Numbers

Deadline to comment on plan for 19 storey building on Uxbridge Road looms

A visualisation of the proposed student accommodation building from the developer

March 11, 2026

Time is running out for residents to have their say on a major redevelopment proposal for CP House on Uxbridge Road. A plan has been submitted to Ealing Council, for a 19-storey mixed-use building combining new office space with more than 600 student accommodation units.

The application, registered as 260282FUL, seeks permission for the phased demolition of the existing 12-storey office block and its replacement with a taller scheme comprising Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA), new workspace, landscaping and public realm improvements. The site address is CP House, 97–107 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 5TL.

The proposal marks a significant shift from the site’s previously approved redevelopment. In March 2022, Ealing Council granted permission for a 13-storey office-led scheme which would have replaced CP House with a part-11, part-13-storey commercial building.

That permission remains valid until 2027. However, the applicant argues that the post-pandemic office market has changed so dramatically that the earlier scheme is no longer viable. According to the developer, tenants now seek smaller, more flexible floorplates suited to hybrid working patterns, making the 2022 office-only proposal commercially unworkable.

The new application retains some of the design principles established by the consented scheme, including the general footprint, massing approach and relationship to neighbouring buildings. But it introduces a substantial student accommodation element, rising to 19 storeys at its highest point and providing 632 student bedrooms. The developer says the scheme will help meet growing demand for student housing in West London, particularly from institutions such as the University of West London and Imperial College London, both of which have expanded their student numbers in recent years.

However, the proposal has already prompted concern among local campaigners. Stop the Towers Ealing, a residents’ group that has opposed several high-rise developments in the borough, argues that the area is at risk of becoming oversaturated with student accommodation. Within a fifth of a mile of CP House, two other PBSA schemes are either approved or under construction: Exchange Plaza on St Leonard’s Road, expected to deliver 504 beds in 2029, and a development at 42 Hastings Road, currently being built and due to provide 412 beds in 2027. If all three schemes proceed, the group notes, the cluster would accommodate 1,547 students in a relatively small area.

The proposed buildings view from Uxbridge Road as shown in planning documents

These concerns are reflected in over 20 objections that have been made by residents to the proposal. On height and character, residents argue the 19-storey building significantly exceeds the local plan's apparent maximum of 13 storeys and is wholly out of keeping with the predominantly two and three-storey character of the surrounding streets. There are also concerns about loss of daylight and a wind-tunnel effect on neighbouring properties.

There is a financial argument running through many of the objections: students are exempt from council tax, yet their presence would increase pressure on already stretched local services including GPs, public transport, water and electricity infrastructure.

CP House on Uxbridge Road. Picture: Facebook

One objection raises serious concerns about the building's immediate proximity to Threen House, a care home for the elderly, arguing that both the prolonged construction disturbance and the permanent operational noise of student accommodation are fundamentally incompatible with a vulnerable residential use, and that no adequate equality impact assessment has been carried out.

Finally, several objectors make the broader planning point that Ealing has a genuine housing crisis requiring family and affordable homes, and that allowing developers to repeatedly obtain consent for student accommodation removes the incentive to bring forward more socially useful residential schemes. Campaigners say this concentration raises questions about housing balance, arguing that Ealing needs more homes for families, key workers and long-term residents rather than further student-only blocks. The proposed 19-storey tower would be one of the tallest buildings on this stretch of Uxbridge Road, which has seen a wave of redevelopment proposals in recent years.

Supporters of the scheme point to the benefits of redeveloping an ageing office block and delivering new workspace alongside student housing. They argue that PBSA can relieve pressure on the private rented sector by reducing the number of students competing for shared houses, and that the scheme’s public realm improvements could enhance the pedestrian environment along Uxbridge Road. The applicant also emphasises that the 2022 consent established the principle of a tall building on the site, and that the new proposal responds to market realities while maintaining design quality.

Ealing Council will now assess the application against local and London-wide planning policies, including those relating to tall buildings, housing mix, design, transport and the cumulative impact of PBSA. The consultation period is open until 25 March, and residents are invited to submit comments via the council’s planning portal.

The application can be viewed and commented on by searching for planning reference 260282FUL on the Ealing Council website.