As first-year students prepare to start their university education, student accommodation provider and developer Unite Students said that 99% of its 49,000-bed portfolio was let for the current academic year.
It said that the number beds under nomination agreements with universities had increased to 29,063, representing 60% of its portfolio, with the remainder let directly to students.
Unite said this could lead to annual rental growth at the middle to upper end of its 3-3.5% expectations.
This month the developer opened five new student residences comprising more than 2,000 beds, in Oxford, Coventry, Liverpool and two in Edinburgh. The residences are fully let with 67% of the beds secured on nomination agreements with an average life of 13 years, delivering a yield on cost in line with expectations.
Unite said it was continuing with its development pipeline and was extending its partnerships with universities. It said it had agreed the extension of its partnership with Kings College in London, which would increase the average life of its nomination agreements on 2,355 beds from six years to nine years, with annual fixed uplifts of 3%, and of its agreement with the London School of Economics on a 455-bed property in London from 2030 to 2040, with annual RPI-linked uplifts.
Chief executive Richard Smith said: “This performance again demonstrates the value of our partnership approach with many of the UK’s leading universities, built on our unique service platform and outstanding property portfolio.”
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