Unite snaps up site for student living for £41m

Student accommodation specialist Unite Students has acquired a development site near the University of Manchester for £41m.

Contracts have been exchanged on the deal which is expected to result in the manager and developer providing homes for around 450 students.

The acquisition is expected deliver returns in line with Unite’s targeted level of 8% to 8.5% development yield.

The development will be funded internally and is anticipated to be delivered for the 2020 academic year.  The acquisition increases the development pipeline to about 7,500 beds underpinning our earnings growth outlook.

Unite says Manchester is a strong performing market with two high quality Universities and a total of 63,000 students seeking accommodation. The site would increase Unite’s Manchester portfolio to 2,800 beds, providing an opportunity to further strengthen our relationships with local Universities.

Richard Simpson, group property director, said: “This acquisition extends our high-quality development programme in a strong regional location where there is growing demand for purpose built student accommodation.

“Manchester is a thriving student city which we expect to continue to attract high numbers of students. We look forward to working with the local Universities to help meet the strong demand for high-quality student accommodation.”