European investor Round Hill Capital is buying a £60m Hampstead block in its first student flats deal since buying the £415m Nido portfolio two years ago.
The company has gone under offer to buy the 347-bed Independent Student Living block on Blackburn Road, NW6, for close to the £60m asking price, which reflected a 5.7% yield.
It is being sold by a private UK family trust advised by JLL.
Student housing agents said Round Hill was keen to invest after a two-year hiatus, in order to take advantage of rental growth as supply dries up.
The latest purchase is fully let, generates rent of £4.1m pa, and is within a 20-minute tube time of 20 university campuses.
CBRE has forecast big demand for student housing. The agent calculated that just 19% of students in London have access to purpose-built student accommodation.
Research published by the agent this summer said: “Investors establishing a foothold in the market now are doing so with the knowledge that demand for stock in student accommodation is likely to outweigh supply for years to come.”
Round Hill made its UK student digs debut in May 2012, with the £415m purchase of the 2,057-bed Nido portfolio, comprising blocks in King’s Cross, Spitalfields and Notting Hill.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
