St James House is a landmark purpose-built student accommodation development in Bristol, comprising two high-rise towers and more than 590 student and co-living beds. The scheme also includes extensive shared amenities spanning approximately 15,000 sq ft and has been designed to meet ambitious sustainability standards, with a target of BREEAM Excellent certification. Practical completion is scheduled for 2028.
Schemes of this scale and height naturally bring a different level of risk, particularly when long-term value, funding requirements and day-to-day operation all need to be considered.
Latent defects insurance offers protection against issues in design, materials or workmanship that may not be apparent at completion. On large PBSA developments, this cover is often an important part of the overall funding and risk strategy, helping to protect both income and asset performance over time.
J3 Advisory was appointed to arrange the latent defects insurance for St James House, working closely with the wider team to ensure the cover reflected the nature of the project and funder expectations. By being involved early, potential risks were identified and addressed before they could affect funding or long-term insurability.
As Johnny Leadsom, Director at J3 Advisory, explains:
“Projects like St James House demonstrate why latent defects insurance is now considered vital in managing risk for complex PBSA developments. It’s about safeguarding the building’s structural integrity and strengthening investor confidence from early financing through occupation.”
The resulting insurance solution supports the project through construction and into operation, providing reassurance to lenders, investors and asset owners alike. As PBSA developments continue to increase in scale and complexity, St James House demonstrates the value of early, specialist input when structuring insurance for high-rise residential schemes.