Yorkshire student accommodation snapped up

STUDENT accommodation in West Yorkshire has been acquired as part of a £137m deal.

Unite Students, one of the UK’s leading developers and managers of student accommodation, has announced that the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF), in which the group has a 21% stake, has acquired a 2,904 bed student accommodation portfolio for £137m. The portfolio comprises nine regional assets and represents the entire portfolio of the Cordea Savills Student Hall Fund, a private student accommodation fund.

The group said the newly acquired assets are complementary to Unite Students’ existing portfolio, with approximately 90% by value located in strong regional locations where the group already has a significant operational presence and which are considered to be core. These core locations are Leeds, Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Loughborough and Portsmouth. The portfolio also includes two smaller assets in Bradford and Preston which will continue to be operated by a third party manager and are likely to be sold in due course.

Unite already owns Sky Plaza, The Plaza, Concept Place and The Tannery in Leeds.

The acquisition, funded through a combination of cash resources and existing debt facilities following USAF’s recent fundraising in March, increases USAF’s property portfolio value by 10% from £1.375bn to £1.512bn, comprising 24,577 beds in 68 properties across 22 UK towns and cities.

Mark Allan, CEO of Unite Students, which is headquartered in Bristol, said: “We are delighted that USAF has been able to complete this important acquisition from Cordea Savills. The combination of Unite’s existing operational presence across the country, USAF’s financial capacity and the group’s position as lessee on two highly reversionary assets means that a combination of Unite and USAF is uniquely well placed to unlock the potential of an excellent regional portfolio.”