Later Student Accommodation, 1950-1980s

As late as 1921-1922 only slightly over 19% of students came from outside Lancashire and Cheshire. The provision of the Halls of Residence has changed considerably with the development of the University. There was a significant expansion in the student population during the 1950s and 1960s; full-time students rose in number from about 3,300 in 1948-51 to 5,114 in 1963-64.

The first purpose-built University accommodation, Derby Hall, at Greenbank, was opened in 1939. Rathbone Hall was added to the Greenbank site in 1959, followed by Roscoe and Gladstone Halls in 1965. The University acquired the Carnatic site in Mossley Hill where previously Mossley Hall (later Carnatic Hall) had stood. Salisbury, McNair and a new Rankin Hall were built on this site between 1964 and 1972. More residences were added: Morton House and Lady Mountford Hall between 1971 and 1974, and Dale Hall. 

First-year undergraduates were expected to live in Halls or University-approved lodgings which led to the development of bed-sit accommodation in the form of Philharmonic Court, between Falkner Street and the Philharmonic Hall (1975), providing 79 self-contained flats and 237 single study bedrooms. Postgraduate House (1970) provided a further 112 places on the precinct. The early 1980s saw the addition of Mulberry Court to the Precinct, where 177 students could be housed, and a hostel at Leahurst Veterinary School for 34 students.