It massive student halls project will be delivered by Salford Villages Consortium, comprising Kier Property and Graham Investment Projects, and student accommodation operator Campus Living Villages.

Work on the halls at the university’s Peel Park campus will start in November and involve building three tower blocks up to 10 storeys high. Work will also include undercroft car parking.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Martin Hall said: “ The project is a central part of our regeneration plans to offer a student experience that’s second to none in the UK.”

The new accommodation forms parts of an ambitious plan to redevelop the University of Salford campus.

Plans are also underway to construct a new gateway building later this year with a theatre, studio and teaching and performance spaces specially designed for arts and media students.

Bam, Lend Lease, Laing O’Rourke, Shepherd, Vinci and Willmott Dixon have returned tenders for the £38m arts centre gateway building (below).