A Manchester student housing developer has sold a portfolio to a Hale-based investor.
Ground Rents Income Fund plc, the Hale-base dreal estate investment trust (REIT) investing in UK ground rents, has acquired the ground rents of four prime student accommodation buildings and exchanged contracts to acquire a further two for a total consideration of £7.1m.
The deal was with Alderley Edge-based Vita Student, part of the Select Property Group …
Property developers Adderstone Group have completed work to create a new £17m student accommodation block on the doorstep of Northumbria University.
The first students will soon move into Union Square Newcastle, in Upper Ouseburn, which opens its doors for the first time on August 14, following a two-year project led by Newcastle-based Adderstone Group which safeguarded some 200 jobs.
The high-spec eight-storey apartment building will house 228 students from across the UK, as well as a large contingency of international students …
Tamar House, on the corner of Old Town Street and St. Andrew’s Cross Roundabout, has been sold for £3million to a student housing developer with its upper floors to be developed in 40 student flats.
Property consultants Vickery Holam said that the sell of this prominent and well situated building, indicted that the Plymouth housing market was “improving“.
The large building also houses RBS Bank, the Post Office and Skipton Building Society on the ground floor, with RBS also filling offices on the first floor …
Centurion Group has bought the LiMa portfolio comprising 1,906 student bedrooms and 17 commercial units, located in four buildings in Manchester and Liverpool, from MCR Property Group.
The GVA student housing team provided acquisition advice to the Centurion Group to secure one of the largest student housing deals of the year.
The four assets are let to students at low rents and offer the potential for significant upside following refurbishment and development.
The properties ‒ namely Manchester Student Village, Manchester Student Village South and The Grafton in Manchester, and Cathedral Campus in Liverpool ‒ are close to the cities’ main university campuses and the city centre …
The annual survey of students in higher education across the UK, carried out by independent market research agency Red Brick Research, showed that less than half (47%) of students in university accommodation felt they had a strong sense of community where they live, with just under 4 in 10 (39%) of those in private halls and only a third (33%) of those in private rented accommodation feeling the same.
Fewer than two-thirds (65%) of students said they had formed close friendships with those they currently live with, and fewer than half (44%) of those living in halls believe that they will share future accommodation with one of their current hall mates.
The daily ritual of eating together fared no better either, with 1 in 4 students saying they never cook with others or share cooking …
Plans have been submitted to build a student accommodation block between Great Victoria Street and Sandy Row in Belfast.
It is the latest proposal for new student housing, ahead of the development of the University of Ulster’s city centre campus.
The new university buildings are due to be finished by 2018 …
Work is due to start this year on a £6m scheme to convert an office block in Sheffield city centre into student accommodation.
Sovereign House in Queen Street is due to be turned into 178 studios for sale in time for the September start of the 2015/16 academic year.
The developers said this week that they are responding to “an acute under-supply of student housing” in Sheffield, and the go-ahead for construction comes at a time when more student accommodation is planned in other parts of the city …
Ground Rents Income Fund has bought the ground rents of four prime student accommodation buildings and exchanged contracts to acquire a further two for a total consideration of £7.1m.
The portfolio, which is a mix of freehold and long-leasehold interests, consists of 848 units across six refurbished buildings in the established student locations of Liverpool, Bristol, Exeter and Southampton.
The four buildings which have been acquired are The Chapel at 3 Crosshall Street, Liverpool (68 units); 35-37 Colston Avenue, Bristol (132 units); Portland House, Longbrook Street, Exeter (156 units); and Richmond House, Terminus Terrace, Southampton (202 units) …
Transactions in the UK’s student accommodation market in the first half of 2014 totalled £1.13bn – an uplift of 20% when compared with the amount spent in the first half of 2013, reports CBRE.
In addition CBRE reports that student accommodation is attracting significant investment in the regions.
Sixty-four per cent of this year’s total has been spent in key university towns and cities such as Newcastle, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh …
One of Southampton’s best-known hotels could be shut down and turned into posh student digs and a cinema.
Plans to convert the Highfield House Hotel into a student complex featuring 144 beds, a gym and a cinema will go on display for the first time tomorrow at a public exhibition so local residents can have their say.
But people living near to the hotel in Highfield Lane say they are concerned, arguing that more student accommodation isn’t needed in the area …
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