Year: 2013

The evolvement of the student accommodation market is now well under way, with the increase of private investment into the rental sector of PBSA’s (Purpose Built Student Accommodation).

Today’s modern day student in more discerning than their predecessors and reports suggest that students are now willing to pay more for this type of modern accommodation than the previous alternative of HMO stock.

The recent Knight Frank report suggests this differential will vary on the geographical location, but conclude “rents for PBSA are up to 75% higher than HMO’s”. So what is a PBSA? As the names suggests, these are modern, purpose built student accommodation, which offer a higher quality of accommodation, normally en-suite …

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Maple Grove Developments, a division of the Eric Wright Group, has sold a 0.4 acre development site in Liverpool with planning permission for student accommodation.

The plot between London Road and Seymour Street was sold for £1m to X1 Developments.

The site has planning permission for 212 student rooms …

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Investors are ploughing cash into student housing in Britain as they see mouth-watering returns of around 10% that are way ahead of most other investments.

Individuals and institutions have sunk over £1.6 billion into student housing in the first nine months of 2013, according to property consultants CBRE.

The average annual yield of 9.95% is higher than investment returns than commercial property, like offices, retail and industrial premises …

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Southampton University Student Union has launched a campaign to improve the experience of securing accommodation for students.

Over the last month, SUSU has been getting hundreds of students to sign up to a simple pledge encouraging them not to rush into signing a housing contract before properly doing their research and checking out their options.

Over 250 students have signed the pledge “NOT to rush for housing” in person, with thousands more engaging online …

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Plans have been submitted for a £8.4m town centre development of student flats.

The proposal is to convert a former office block at 67-77 Corporation Road in Middlesbrough into 230 studios.

Completion is expected to be made in time for the September 2014 intake of students …

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Angela Merkel’s election win in Germany in September sparked a long battle to form a “grand coalition” with the opposition Social Democrats, her reluctant bride-to-be.

Student accommodation will not have been top of the agenda in the negotiations, but it has become an issue that the federal government will have to address, as protests and stories of students crammed five to a room draw attention to a growing problem for Germany’s students and universities.

Efforts to resolve the matter could lead to changes to the entire funding system for higher education students in Germany …

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Students are a key part of the letting sector’s client base and account for a significant proportion of the private rented sector (PRS).

However, the government’s decision to raise tuition fees a few years ago caused concerns the number of students in the country would drop and the PRS would suffer as a result. Thankfully, that situation doesn’t appear to have come to pass, as a new report has revealed the student rental market is in good health.

CBRE has released its latest Student Housing Market Review, which found the average return on a student property between September 2012 and September 2013 was 9.95 per cent, which is higher than for the PRS as a whole for the third year in succession …

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Plans for what would be one of Durham’s biggest private student accommodation schemes have been given the go-ahead, despite opposition from residents.

Developer BAM Connislow and student landlord Bill Free Homes want to build a four-storey block housing up to 350 students on a derelict site off Renny’s Lane, near the Tesco Extra store in Dragonville, Durham City.

Belmont Parish Council and some residents say it is an unsuitable location for student accommodation, the development would be too large and many students would bring cars, worsening traffic and parking problems in the area …

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A GENERAL manager has been appointed for West Cumbria’s first dedicated student accommodation campus. Jo Arthur started her new role this month at the former residential and training centre Summergrove – now named Summergrove Halls.

She joined the project having run her own facilities management company in the north east and brings with her more than 25 years’ experience in hotel management and support services within the NHS.

The residential campus is designed to provide high quality student accommodation for those studying with the area’s universities and training providers which form the Britain’s Energy Coast Campus partnership …

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GCP Student Living Tuesday said it has acquired a student accommodation residence for GBP13 million.

The acquisition will be funded through the real estate investment trust’s existing borrowing facility, with the trust’s gearing approximately 36% of gross assets after the acquisition.

The residence, located next to Royal Holloway, University of London, in Surrey, is comprised of 116 bedrooms and is currently fully occupied on 51 week tenancies …

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