University of Nottingham deal offers lesson in developing property with little risk
Universities Partnerships Programme (UPP) has signed a £115 million deal with the University of Nottingham to provide 850 student bedrooms.
The deal, backed by Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland, reflects the appeal of student accommodation to investors and high street banks, who like the relative safety of returns to be earned from the growing number of people in higher education.
UPP, one of the country’s biggest providers of student housing, has hired Mansell, the contractor, to renovate existing accommodation to “provide students with affordable accommodation of a higher standard”. The accommodation, on the Broadgate Park campus, will be managed in partnership with Nottingham University until 2047, when full ownership will transfer back to the university. The arrangement should please students, who have come to expect little in the way of comfort from university rooms, as much as it will please UPP and the university …