Category: Market News

Real estate asset and fund manager Curlew Capital has hired Andrew Davis as senior development manager.

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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 …

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Many students attending university for the first time this year are in the dark over when their higher education will begin and how much, if any, of it will be done in person or virtually.

The student-housing market has inevitably been hit by the Covid pandemic, with many students deferring or planning to stay at home in the near term. But the adverse impact on student housing might not be as dire as it has been on other property types – rental income on retail and hotels assets has been the clearest victim.

Samuel Vetrak, the CEO of student-housing research firm Bonard, has talked to about 80 different stakeholders, including operators, in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and the information gathered suggests that premises are about 70-75% occupied. “This is mainly due to the fact that the high proportion of international students who would have returned back home stayed in the primary premises.” …

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Student living specialist Global Student Accommodation (GSA) has appointed Will Rowson as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.

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Nuveen Real Estate has tapped co-living company Common to manage a 575-unit portfolio of multifamily assets.

Neither The Edge in Fort Lauderdale (pictured top) nor Stella in Los Angeles are co-living properties.

Nuveen said it was Common’s tech-driven approach to property leasing and management that drew their interest …

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There are currently more applicants holding a firm offer to start a course this autumn than at the equivalent point last year, and fewer people accepting an offer for a deferred place …

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Unite Students, the UK’s leading owner, manager and developer of student accommodation, today provides a trading update ahead of the end of the first half of the financial year ending on 30 June 2020.

Highlights

• 97% of Universities plan to provide in-person teaching in the Autumn term of 2020/21*
• Reservations at 80% for the 2020/21 academic year (2019/20: 88%), of which half underpinned by contracted nomination agreements
• 94% of rent has been collected under nomination or lease agreements for the summer term of 2019/20, reflecting the strength of Unite’s relationships with Universities and the robustness of its nomination agreements
• First student accommodation provider to have our Covid Secure status accredited by the British Safety Council
• Guidance for EPRA EPS of 22-25 pence for FY2020, reflecting the impact of rent forgone for the summer term of 2019/20 and 90% target occupancy for 2020/21
• Anticipate reinstating dividend payments following the start of the 2020/21 academic year in line with our expectations …

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Universities, as well as student accommodation providers are keeping a watchful eye on student numbers.

The majority of UK university applicants are still planning to start university in the autumn despite ongoing uncertainty around term times and course administration.

Almost nine out of every ten undergraduate applicants surveyed by UCAS, whose role is to operate the application process for British universities, said they still plan to head to university in September or October …

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The purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector is continuing to grow despite the huge impact on universities from the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen the vast majority close their doors and most students returning to their hometowns to be in lockdown with their families.

The latest data from StuRents indicates that, as of June, almost 23,000 PBSA beds are being advertised for the 2020-21 academic year.

Assuming all schemes in the pipeline that are currently being marketed do come to fruition this year, then the PBSA market could exceed 700,000 bed spaces for the first time, with private operators controlling more than half of supply …

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There will be no face-to-face lectures at the University of Cambridge over the course of the next academic year due to coronavirus, it has been announced.

However, lectures will be available to students online and “it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person” if they meet social distancing requirements, the university said.

University campuses have been closed this term by the Covid-19 outbreak …

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