Student housing demand has surged, reveals survey
Take-up in the UK’s private purpose-built student accommodation sector has surged in the past five years, according to a new report polling 70,000 students and new applicants …
Student accommodation glut only ‘short-term indigestion’ says Blue Sky – Australia
Embattled private investment firm Blue Sky says there is still a strong future for student accommodation in Australia, despite a glut of supply which has resulted in a write-down of the bulk of the company’s student accommodation funds …
Should student flats be owned by the council?
At Brunswick House in Cambridge students can rent a large en-suite room, sharing a kitchen with five others, for £183 a week.
With more than 200 rooms, and a ready supply of potential tenants, it’s an investor’s dream. But the students who live there don’t pay their rent to a commercial investor.
In fact, it goes to Cambridgeshire County Council, which has just bought the building for £38m …
University chiefs want overhaul of unconditional offers system
Unconditional offers are “reducing the motivation and quality” of sixth-form education and lead too many students to the wrong university or degree, according to several college leaders.
In a letter to The Times they call for sweeping changes to the widespread practice of making unconditional offers on the proviso that a student makes the university their firm choice.
The group, which includes the principal of King’s College London and the vice-chancellors of Brunel, Buckingham and Hertfordshire universities, says that these offers skew students’ choices of university.
Sixth-formers who fear they may not perform well at A level will accept an unconditional offer from their fourth or fifth choice of university so that they can be sure of a place, rather than risk holding out for…
Two-year degree plan to cut cost of tuition fees
Students in England are being promised the option of “accelerated” two-year degree courses, saving 20% on tuition fees compared with a three-year course.
Universities Minister Sam Gyimah has confirmed plans for universities to be able to charge higher fees for shorter, more intensive courses.
It would mean paying about £5,500 less than for a three-year course – which would mean about £11,000 per year …
University given £1m bailout from watchdog
A UK university had to be given an emergency loan of almost £1m by the higher education watchdog to stay afloat this autumn.
It’s been discovered that the Office for Students provided the bailout when the university faced the prospect of running out of cash and being unable to pay its bills.
The money has been repaid – and the regulator says the university, a small, modern institution, is now financially stable …
New markets and co-living offer opportunities for student housing investors
Investment in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) has surged globally in the last five years, but with some markets now relatively mature, what are the best opportunities for investors in the sector over the next 18 months?
In terms of geographies, provision of PBSA is currently lowest in southern Europe. Analysing city-by-city data from StudentMarketing we’ve found that Rome has a student population of 220,500, but only 6,500 student beds (a provision rate of just 3 per cent), followed by Porto (3.5 per cent), Florence (3.8 per cent), Barcelona (4.9 per cent) and Madrid (5.7 per cent) …
Berlin’s student housing prices are soaring insanely high
Since 2010, the cost of student housing in Berlin has risen 67.3 percent.
According to a recent report by the German Economic Institute, rent prices for flats in university cities throughout the country have increased between 9.8 percent to a whopping 67.3.
In Berlin, student rent prices have rocketed 10 percent in just one year, slowly eroding the city’s “poor but sexy” image so coveted by international students and young professionals in the last decade. Property prices in Berlin, as a whole, soared almost 21 percent last year, a report by property consultancy Knight Frank found earlier this year …
British universities fall behind in employability rankings as foreign institutions teach courses in English
British universities are falling behind in employability rankings as foreign institutions increasingly use English.
The UK’s position in The Times Higher Education’s (THE) Global Employability Rankings has declined more than any other European country in recent years.
Meanwhile, the rapid improvement of universities in the East has seen countries – including South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore – rise up in the rankings …
Future Generation to debut in Ireland with Cola Factory conversion
Future Generation, a joint venture between Southern Grove and Tadhamon Capital, has acquired The Cola Factory in Cork, Ireland, to develop a 600-bed student accommodation scheme.
The acquisition is Future Generation’s first outside of the UK and marks the start of a major European student accommodation development programme …