Deloitte Real Estate publishes Student Housing 2013 – the evolving market
There are currently 457,000 purpose-built bedspaces in the UK, up 30,000 in just four years. However, with 1.72 million fulltime students now studying in the UK, the demand for student accommodation has never been greater.
While there has been a significant increase in student accommodation in recent years, the level of provision continues to vary from region to region. Deloitte Real Estate’s unique ‘bedspace ratio’ measures the number of fulltime students to each purpose-built bedspace – an indication of the capacity for new supply. For example, in London there are 294,555 students for 66,787 purpose-built bedspaces, equating to a ratio of 4.4. Northern Ireland has the highest ratio at 5.8 and the South East and East Midlands the lowest at 3.0.
Chris Baldwin, partner and head of student housing at Deloitte Real Estate, said: “The introduction of higher fees has meant that students have become even more discerning in their choice of university, and universities recognise that their built environment can play an important role in attracting students. We therefore expect to see universities further improve their accommodation, or continue to outsource some of it to the private sector.” …