2018 Student Housing Report & Outlook
Report from Student Housing Asset Class …
PRS predictions for 2019
The private rented sector will always see its fair share of successes as well as schemes that don’t perform as well – 2019 will see it continue to be an emerging asset class where early investors don’t have an established game plan to follow …
Harrison Street brings in veteran Storgaard as investment director
The former head of European acquisitions at Threesixty Developments, Thomas Storgaard, has joined student accommodation and healthcare specialist investor Harrison Street as its new investment director.
Storgaard has built a career spanning more than 20 years in real estate investment and development throughout Europe, forming part of the management team at the Oaktree Capital Management-owned Threesixty for the past six years and previously serving as head of European acquisitions HDG Mansur Investment Services and fund management associate at Mansford Holdings …
Global Student Accommodation rolls out wellbeing framework
Residents at Global Student Accommodation residences will be given the opportunity to improve their mental wellbeing, the company has announced, as it rolls out its Student Wellbeing Framework for 30,000 students across eight countries.
After a successful trial in the UK, GSA will introduce the nine-pillar framework offering residents schedules designed to offer a “broad variety” of locally relevant activities. Residential assistants will organise an average of between four and eight activities per month.
“Poor mental health is one of the biggest threats to the successful completion of Higher Education,” Tim Daplyn, managing director of Red Brick Research said …
Valeo Groupe Europe Releases Major Year-in-Review Announcements
In early Q1, Valeo Groupe Europe, through one of its affiliated entities, acquired Urban Student Life Ltd, (USL) a full-service specialist student management and development company, which has 3,000 beds under its management. This acquisition also includes the operation and management of two student-facing brands – LIVStudent and Urban Student Life, under the Valeo Groupe Europe name …
Student loan ruling adds £12bn to government borrowing
A change in how student loans are recorded in the public finances will add £12bn to the deficit, following an Office for National Statistics ruling.
The amount expected not to be repaid, which could be 45% of lending, will be reclassified as public spending.
Student loans will now significantly push up the UK’s deficit – providing an incentive to reduce tuition fees …
Investec Structured Property Finance has backed Crosslane Property and Harrison Street Real Estate’s development of a 391-bed purpose-built student accommodation scheme in Cardiff with a £19.4m senior loan.
The Howard Gardens scheme is the fifth development under Crosslane’s joint venture with Harrison Street, and brings the total gross development value of the duo’s portfolio to £180m across 1,685 beds.
Investec has provided £19.4m debt financing for the development of the Cardiff scheme, at which construction has begun today, in addition to £59m it is already providing for the development of the JV’s Coventry, Portsmouth and Swansea schemes. The JV, originally announced in January, has a fifth scheme now underway in Leeds, funded by Yorkshire Bank …
UPP-sponsored report calls for more support for ‘commuter students’
The Government and higher education institutions should do more to support commuter students – who live away from campus and often in the parental home – according to a new report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).
Sponsored by University Partnerships Programme (UPP), the UK’s leading provider of on-campus student accommodation infrastructure and support services, ‘Homeward Bound: Defining, understanding and aiding commuter students’ has been written by Professor David Maguire, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich, and David Morris, the Vice-Chancellor’s Policy Officer at the University of Greenwich.
The paper considers the experiences of students who live in the parental home during university. They have poorer outcomes than those who move away from home and are less engaged and satisfied with their academic experiences …
With three D grades at A-level, 80% got university places
Among university applicants who got three D grades at A-level, 80% were successful in getting places in 2018, according to admissions figures.
This was a year with fewer 18-year-olds, which saw universities competing to attract students.
The Ucas admissions data shows Northern Ireland had the highest entry rate among the UK’s four education systems …
Student accommodation to hit £53bn next year
The UK’s purpose-built student accommodation sector will reach £53bn by the end of next year. The sector is expected to rise by £2.7bn from 2018 totals of £50.5bn, according to Knight Frank forecasts.
It anticipates that some 29,000 additional beds will be delivered in 2019, bringing the total to more than 600,000. This equates to an average of £87,000 per bed.
Investment into the sector will remain largely dominated by North American and Asian finance, with strong appetite from the US, Singapore and Hong Kong. Knight Frank is predicting 2% growth in rents and said existing players will look to …