Empiric swings to a loss amid Covid-19 income uncertainty
Empiric Student Property swung to a pre-tax loss in the first six months of 2020, with Covid-19 causing uncertainty over future income …
News Articles
UK student housing update following A-level results day
An update on the demand outlook for the UK student housing sector following the release of this year’s A-level result for students in England and Wales. The new academic year presents a chance for the student housing sector to resume following the disruption caused by the pandemic in March.
The latest set of A-level results are expected to trigger an active period for the UK student accommodation sector as students race to secure tenancies for the upcoming academic year. The sharp increase in applications between January and June has led to a 2% increase in UK applicants this year, while participation rates are at their highest level on record amongst UK 18-year olds. This goes against the underlying demographic decrease amongst this age group in recent years and defies predictions of the impact of COVID-19.
As of 30th June 2020, UCAS data showed that over two thirds of applicants had still not confirmed their final offers, a 10% increase in unconfirmed places compared to 2019/20. However, the first clearing data shows that UK acceptances are up by 2.9%, while non-EU acceptances are up by 2.0%. Although EU acceptances have fallen by 15.2%, overall acceptances on A-level results day are up by 1.9% year on year …
Curlew Capital hires senior development manager
Real estate asset and fund manager Curlew Capital has hired Andrew Davis as senior development manager.
£41m investment to acquire major build to rent scheme
Clients of Aberdeen Standard Investments have acquired Clarendon Quarter, a 324-unit residential scheme just outside of Leeds city centre, from Habitus Leeds.
The deal marks the UK’s largest stabilised transaction, for institutional grade, purpose-built accommodation and the first in Leeds.
The scheme comprises the former St Michael’s School (The Court) and a new build block (The Gardens), with a BREEAM rating of Very Good …
Sinn Féin proposes legislation to ban co-living developments
Sinn Féin has brought forward legislation to ban the practice of allowing “co-living” arrangements.
The party’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said changes in the planning laws introduced by former minister for housing Eoghan Murphy in 2018 had allowed developers build co-living forms of housing.
“It is not a solution to the crisis in terms of he availability of affordable accommodation for young people in our cities,” he said …
Call for a new approach on the affordability, regulation and cost of student accommodation
The Higher Education Policy Institute has published a new report on the burgeoning student accommodation sector.
Student Accommodation: The Facts (HEPI Analytical Paper 2) by Sarah Jones and Martin Blakey shows 1.2 million students rent their housing, split between university-provided accommodation (28%), private purpose-built student accommodation (27%) and shared student houses (45%).
The report explains:
- how student accommodation has changed since previous generations of students were at university;
- how current regulations add cost without stopping the most pressing challenges; and
- how to make accommodation more responsive to the needs of students …
University of London launches next-gen property rental app for Students
University of London (Uol) students now have the ability to choose, secure and pay for their home for the academic year using an app which gives access to available private rented accommodation in thousands of properties across the city.
Working with SPCE – a real estate-oriented software / data company, which supports non-profit and public sector organisations in delivering transformative housing products, UoL’s Housing Services team will be launching a free app based platform which allows landlords to advertise rooms, flats and houses to its student cohort. Students will be able to search the app for their requirements, and communicate directly with their landlord for the duration of their tenancy, in a secure, transparent, non-physical environment. Repairs, complaints, end of tenancy queries, deposits and rent payments can be recorded and dealt with in one digital location.
The University of London Housing Services team serves 184,000 students across 16 UoL member institutions and 9 external partner HE facilities. With 63% of that student body living in private rented accommodation, it’s hoped that 115,000 people will have access to the new app, which almost doubles the use figure of 60,000 for the previous, less digitally accessible solution. Users will have access to over 600 private landlords, 30+ estate agents and over 30 providers of purpose-built student accommodation …
Financial close has been achieved on a £100m+ student accommodation scheme for Kingston University in south west London
Kingston Student Living (KSL) has successfully achieved financial close on a £100m+ student accommodation project for Kingston University in south west London.
KSL comprises Equitix and ENGIE …
The Home Charter – fostering a safe and secure environment amid Covid-19 (Unite)
For years, Unite has been welcoming thousands of students through our doors. For many it’s often the first time they’ve ventured into the world of independent and shared living.
Living with a group of strangers is something most students will never have done before, and in the light of Covid-19 the uncertainties and concerns about shared living are likely to be magnified.
With this in mind, it felt like the right time to formalise the guidance we usually give on an informal basis, and an opportunity to confirm our own commitment of support. This led to the introduction of the Home Charter, a set of principles and expected behaviours which add up to a culture of supportive community …
Student accommodation bookings show UK students set to fill international shortfall
According the latest bookings data from student accommodation provider Host, UK students are proving increasingly intent on starting university life in September in spite of the disruption caused by coronavirus.
The data, which covers almost 6,000 students that have already signed up to live in 35 student halls that Host operates across cities in the UK in September, shows that UK students currently account for 50 per cent of all bookings, up 5 per cent on last year’s figures.
This upturn supports separate data recently released by Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) that revealed that applications for university courses from UK-domiciled 18-year-olds were up 2.6 per cent, with the number of students deferring falling by 4.1 per cent, from 14,230 to 13,640 …