Empiric Student Property has issued a trading update showing robust momentum heading into the 2025/26 academic year.
Focusing on high-tariff university locations, the studio-led PBSA specialist reports reservations remain ahead of the wider market — setting the stage for near-full occupancy once again. Like-for-like rental growth is expected to exceed inflation, coming in at 4–5%.
Chief executive Duncan Garrood (pictured) highlighted the sector’s resilience, said: “The attractiveness of the UK’s higher education sector continues to drive strong demand for PBSA, particularly toward higher-tariff university cities to which we are primarily aligned.”
Re-booker rates are also on the rise, with over 60% of eligible residents choosing to stay on a strong endorsement of Empiric’s customer satisfaction and service proposition.
Following its recent share placing, the company has fully deployed acquisition funds, most recently purchasing Selly Oak Apartments in Birmingham. Meanwhile, its postgraduate-exclusive product is ahead of schedule, with new schemes in Bath, Sheffield and Southampton set to open this autumn.
Further pipeline growth is being unlocked with planning approvals in Manchester and Bristol, while the final non-core asset is under offer for sale.
With £73.6m in liquidity and a prudent LTV of 27.7%, Empiric has declared a Q1 dividend of 0.925p per share, keeping it on track to deliver its 3.7p full-year target.
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