Year: 2013

Wealthy Chinese businesspeople are gearing up to invest in an £18m luxury student accommodation project in Preston.

Portergate Property Management has already received planning permission for the development in Friargate, which is scheduled to be ready to take students at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) from 2014-15.

A team from the developers, led by chairman Anthony Jackson, visited the Overseas Property Investment Show in Shanghai, China, earlier this year and returned with major expressions of interest from investors, who are now heading to Lancashire …

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The Unite Group’s UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) has raised £185 million through a bond issue.

The bonds, secured against the fund’s portfolio of property, have a 12-year maturity and pay a fixed coupon of 3.9%. The proceeds will be used to repay secured debt due to mature in the next two years.

Unite said the bonds, which are rated A by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, will complete USAF’s recent refinancing activity …

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The Warsaw-based team at Broadway Malyan has won a competition to design a major residential refurbishment scheme for students at a university in Krakow.

The 17,500m2 scheme, located at Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, will be delivered for client Bouygues, which is managing the project. It is set to be one of the first such projects in Poland to be delivered wholly via a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Three three existing 10-storey accommodation blocks, originally built during the Soviet era, will be overhauled through an internal reconfiguration, full refurbishment and new façade design …

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It is one of the few markets proving to be recession proof. And there are no signs that the student accommodation boom in Bristol city centre is slowing down.

Office blocks standing empty due to the economic downturn are being swiftly converted into bespoke student digs.

In a city with 45,000 students and two well-respected universities there is continues to be a surging demand for properties. The latest developments are in Colston Avenue, where two neighbouring properties are being turned into almost 200 student beds.
Redland-based architect firm O’LearyGoss is behind the £4.5 million transformation of two former 1950s city offices for purpose-built student accommodation …

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A controversial Liverpool development firm at the forefront of the buy-to-let student property has gone bust.

Middle England Developments (MED) has been put into administration by its owner, property developer Nigel Russell, after an attempt to reach a voluntary agreement with creditors broke down.

The firm is understood to have owed around £500,000 to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and it is believed the overall debts to creditors could be as high as around £3m …

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A derelict former prison is to be turned into student flats alongside a new budget supermarket.

The German chain Aldi last night won permission to transform the Longfield House site on Greenbank Road from a home for junkies and graffiti artists into 65 student flats.

When the 19th Century building is brought back to life, two students will find themselves living in what were once basement cells, Plymouth city councillors heard …

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Property investment firm Knight Knox International has unveiled its plans for a £12.9m seven-storey student accommodation development in the London Road area of Liverpool city centre.

City planners have given the go-ahead for X1 The Edge in Seymour Street which will comprise 231 en-suite rooms.

It is a joint venture between Knight Knox and Liverpool-based X1 Developments …

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An empty Victorian mill in Bradford city centre could soon be turned into accommodation for up to 67 students.

Bradford Council has received an application for the transformation of 132 Sunbridge Road, which is part of the Goitside Conservation Area, into a house of multiple occupation designed for students of Bradford University.

Submitted by Bradford-based Fix a Home Limited, the plans are for 67 self- contained student flats over seven floors with kitchen and dining areas …

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Plans to demolish a former nightclub in Wrexham and replace it with student flats were approved last night.

The plans were submitted for Scotts nightclub  and discussed by members of the planning committee.

The derelict building, on Brook Street, is riddled with asbestos and has become an eyesore in recent years …

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Expats with children about to head to university in another country could help recoup the cost of tuition fees with a successful punt on the student property market.

But the question is, where to buy? Not only will buying a flat or apartment for your child save money on rent while they are studying, but it will also generate a decent income if held on to.

A recent report by Savills found that UK student housing continues to perform well as an asset class, with rental yields higher than those of residential property. But many expats prefer to look further afield, given their international outlook, which would put countries like Australia and the US on the radar …

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