Student accommodation investment UK opportunity:
Student accommodation investment UK is a lucrative opportunity due to the year-on-year growth in the number of students coming to the UK for pursuing higher studies. This has opened up a plethora of opportunities for student accommodation investment UK. Purpose-Built Student Accommodation or PBSA is one of them, which is a specialised sector of the property industry, catering to the student housing needs. This type of housing is specifically for the university students. It offers dual advantage as it frees up space for everyone else and enhances opportunity for property investors.
Growth in student accommodation sector:
High demand for accommodation among students has seen a rapid growth in student accommodation investment UK. As a result, the UK’s purpose-built student accommodation sector has seen a record growth in 2019. A recent report by StuRents, the UK’s largest student accommodation portal, says that the UK PBSA Sector saw a staggering growth rate of 5.3% in 2019. This is due to the increased commercialisation of the student accommodation sector which is playing a prominent role in the country’s economy over the past few years.
The second-biggest market globally:
The UK is now the second largest market for PBSA after North America, with projected investments worth £53 billion by the end of 2019, offering a huge potential for student accommodation investment UK.
The PBSA sector is set for further growth as more students leave school and enrol in universities.
There has been a rapid rise in the number of domestic university students alone since the government removed the cap on student numbers in 2015. Apart from this, the number of international students is continuously increasing, despite brexit, further boosting the possibility of student accommodation investment UK.
There are approximately 2 million students in the UK currently, out of which 750,000 are either from abroad or in their first year. This segment of the country’s student population offers a key opportunity for student accommodation investment UK as accommodation is especially a key consideration for international students or those that have just enrolled into university.
Demand-supply gap:
Despite this, there is a big demand-supply gap in the sector, with only 600,000 bed spaces available for a consumer base of 3/4 million. The current building projects are set to deliver 120,000 more bed spaces over time, whereas the number of students will continue to rise in the coming years.
Rising number of international students across UK universities is important for continued growth in the country’s PBSA sector. According to government figures, 460,000 international students were educated in UK universities in 2018, and the government wants to increase this to 600,000 by 2030.
With all the advantages of PBSAs, living at such accommodations while at university, has proved to be an attractive option for many students, which holds a huge potential for student accommodation investment UK.