Kier Property and Amber Infrastructure have teamed up to launch a £250m student housing joint venture.
The pair are in the process of registering a new company, called Lysander Student Properties, to deliver 3,500 student beds over the next five years.
Lysander aims to develop 700 beds a year and will start its first scheme shortly: a £20m, 264-bed block in Glasgow.
The Elder and Cannon-designed scheme is due to complete in August 2015.
Nigel Turner, managing director of Kier Property, said: “We are taking an occupational risk because most of the planned schemes will be direct-let, but we are balancing the risk by having a partner.
“We are confident in investing because there is a severe shortage of student housing across many parts of the UK.”
The 50:50 joint venture will develop across Britain but will exclude London – where land values are soaring owing to competition from house builders.
According to Deloitte Real Estate, most of the regions are undersupplied with student housing, including the East Midlands, where there were just 43,671 purpose-built beds for 131,090 full-time students last year. In the South West, there were only 27,159 purpose-built beds for 129,815 students.
Amber and Kier have worked together on projects before, but this is the first time they are partnering for student accommodation schemes.
Kier’s existing student portfolio includes a £64m, 1,400-bed scheme in Salford, Greater Manchester, which it is developing with Campus Living Villages.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
