Year: 2012

Philip Marley has come up with a relatively original property idea: develop common interest communities, and then rent out units to those with a common interest in life.

The idea he described at his chic Chelsea house on Monday is not entirely new, of course. Royal Hospital Chelsea got there first, in 1695, by restricting admission to old soldiers.

But the 41-year-old Irishman, who made a few million building student accommodation in Ireland, feels there is a modem market for those would like to rent accommodation with like-minded folk. The former ad man is seeking a site in postcodes EC1 to EC3 for a 250-bed Arab-only student village. “We’re looking for old Sixties/Seventies offices or underperforming hotels.” …

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Views of Cambridge for people arriving by train are set to be transformed by a six-storey block of student flats.

The building, comprising 354 bedrooms plus shops running along the railway line from the Earl of Derby pub in Hills Road to the station, would be the latest step forward for the cb1 development.

Plans for the building have been submitted days before a decision is taken on another key part of the scheme – a six-storey office block in Station Road to replace Demeter House …

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Unite Group, the student accomodation specialist, today announced the completion of it’s disposal programme of non-core assets, selling two units to JV’s  the sale of North Lodge, Tottenham Hale (528 beds) to the London Student Accommodation Venture (LSAV), the 50:50 joint venture with GIC Real Estate, for £46 million and the sale of Kelvin Court, Glasgow (477 beds) to the USAF for £31 million. The prices achieved represent an average net initial yield of 6.5%.

Third party sales are New Carnegie Court, a 520 bed property in Aberdeen, where the leasehold interest in the property was sold to PRUPIM for £33 million, representing a net initial yield of 5.5%. The sale has been achieved following extensive work to restructure the underlying ownership and new 25 year lease granted to the University of Aberdeen.

The other third party sale is a 34 bed property on Camden Road, London which has been sold to Elite Property Group for £6 million and is the second asset they have purchased from Unite Group this year …

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Neighbours of proposed new student flats in Lincoln are worried it will cast a shadow across their homes and create an echo chamber that amplifies the noise from trains.

People who live in Witham Wharf, which has 114 flats over nine floors, have started a campaign against the plans to transform Wigford Yard in Brayford Wharf East.

The University of Lincoln wants to build an 11-storey block which looks out over Brayford Pool, with two blocks of student accommodation over eight and six floors in the yard behind …

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Law firm Dickinson Dees, which has a base on Teesside, played a pivotal role in the £39.1m sale of the 366 student properties sold by the administrators of Grant West Property and Grant Residential Property to Addington Capital backed by Europa Capital.

And, under an agreement with Lloyds Banking Group, Newcastle-based property group Grainger are the strategic asset and property managers to the administrators.

The properties are mainly houses that are privately let to students across UK cities such as Newcastle, Edinburgh, Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham …

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London Cornwall Property Partners (LCPP) have submitted an application to convert the nine-storey Pennine House, in between Greek Street and Russell Street, into 119 bed spaces to be marketed at wealthier students.

It would be the first student scheme to be developed in the heart of the city’s prime office quarter.

The council’s city plans panel heard that weekly rents at one of the company’s similar developments in Bristol ranged from £145 for a room up to £180 for a bigger studio …

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The University of East Anglia is planning a £12m eco-building to ease the squeeze on student accommodation and celebrate its 50th anniversary.

A new, environmentally-friendly student halls could spring up in 2014 at its campus. The state-of-the-art building will be part of a £58 million investment by the university as it celebrates 50 years in 2013.

Planners have designed a 231-bed building at the eastern edge of the site, close to other student halls …

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Plans to knock down Ormskirk’s iconic indoor market and Alpine nightclub to create a mixed-use development of shops and 84 beds of student accommodation have received a mixed response.

Emery Planning Partnership and Seven Architecture are preparing a planning application to go before West Lancs council for the proposals on behalf of Formby Hall Investments Ltd. A consultation event was held earlier this month at the Moorgate-based market over the plans ahead of their submission.

The development would see the market and nightclub demolished and a redevelopment of the site, along with vacant land on the corner of Moorgate and Park Road. The proposal is for 14 student flats, with 84 student bedrooms, 11 of which would be fully accessible …

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Mansion fund becomes first student accommodation Paif.

The FSA authorised has authorised the first property authorised investment fund (Paif) to invest in student accommodation available to retail investors.

The HC Mansion UK Student Accommodation Income and Growth fund, a non-Ucits retail scheme, is the first to make use of the tax-efficient structure …

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Around 180 construction industry jobs are expected to be supported by a £36m development on the York University campus.

The university has selected Evans Property Group as the preferred bidder to develop the third phase of student accommodation at its extended campus at Heslington East.

The development is part of the university’s long-term £750m plan to double the size of its campus …

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