Unite Students expects to deliver rental growth of at least 7% and occupancy rates of 98-99% for the 2024/25 academic year thanks to strong demand from domestic and international students.
In a Q2 2024 trading update, Unite said 94% of the group’s rooms are now reserved for the 2024/25 academic year, ahead of its typical leasing pace and slightly below the record reservation rates of 98% set last year
It added demand from universities remained strong with 1,000 additional beds secured via nomination agreements compared with the same stage of the sales cycle last year. Demand from international students also remained robust with 18% of the portfolio sold on direct let tenancies to international students for the 2024/25 academic year, compared with 19% in 2023/24.
Joe Lister, chief executive officer of Unite Students, said: “Student demand remains strong from both domestic and international students, reflecting the continued appeal of UK higher education, our fixed-priced, all-inclusive offer and the growing shortage of high-quality student homes. Together with our alignment to the UK’s strongest universities, this supports stronger rental growth for the 2024/25 academic year and underpins growth in our property valuations.
“We have also made further progress with the delivery of our record development pipeline, with significant planning milestones in Glasgow and Newcastle. These projects will deliver much needed new student homes in some of the UK’s strongest university cities.”
