FreshStart targets student market
PROPERTY developer FreshStart Living has bought Montgomery House at Alexandra Park in Whalley Range and is planning a £7.8m conversion to turn it into student flats.
The building had previously been owned by Manchester Metropolitan University and YMCA and was purpose-built to provide student properties, but FreshStart’s conversion will see 240 student “pods” created – each with an area of 129 sq ft – that will be marketed to investor landlords.
Salford-based FreshStart is selling the pods at £24,000 each and said that 190 have already been reserved. They are expected to achieve rental levels of £85 per week.
The four-storey building will comprise also contain a new communal living space. Secure parking and cycle housing will also be made available.
A start on site is expected in in June 2011 and will be delivered over the next year.
Stuart Cook, acquisitions manager at FreshStart Living, said: “This is FreshStart’s first foray into student accommodation, which is an asset class that rarely becomes available to individual investors.
“Student rentals have remained robust with a recorded yearly growth of 5% over the past six years.
“The University of Manchester is the UK’s most popular university and with the booming market, high rental yields and a long-standing management company in place, Montgomery House represents a great hands-off, hassle free investment opportunity .”
