Planners are considering fresh applications for more than 1,000 extra student beds in Belfast city centre.
Two separate bids have been lodged for new accommodation to be located a short distance from Ulster University (UU).
UU is spending £250 million on a building project to `regenerate' Belfast by bringing thousands of students into the city.
Construction work is continuing to transform the 'art college' campus on York Street, at the top of Royal Avenue. This will see most courses transfer from Jordanstown to central Belfast and student numbers in the city rise from 2,000 to 15,000.
The work is running at least a year behind schedule, however, and the university has said it will only welcome students at the start of the 2019 academic year.
Developers are seeking to create thousands of student flats in Belfast. Numerous sites have been snapped up by private sector housing developers ahead of the opening of the campus.
Applications to build a 14-storey apartment block at York Street and an 11-storey student building at Great Patrick Street, providing accommodation for hundreds of students, are among those already approved by Belfast City Council's planning committee.
Further applications for an 11-storey block near homes at Kent Street and Stephen Street and a separate 10-storey apartment block near the junction of Carrick Hill and Clifton Street have been rejected.
One housing scheme - the 45 room Mark Royal House, just yards from UU's front door - has already opened.
The two latest applications would increase the number of student rooms by more than 1,000.
It is hoped Athena House on Nelson Street will be open, if approved, by 2019. The proposed 11-storey building will have 774 managed student rooms.
A separate application has proposed another 11-storey "purpose built managed student accommodation" building on York Street comprising 307 studios over three ground floor retail units.
