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Unite Students Accommodation Fund (‘USAF’) acquires property under development in Durham – 17 March 2017

17 March 2017

Unite Students, the UK’s leading manager and developer of student accommodation, announces that USAF has acquired an asset under development in Durham. The ‘forward funded’ asset will be opened in September 2018 and will provide a home for 363 students.

USAF is acquiring the asset for £34 million and it is expected to deliver a yield on cost of 6.4% in its first year of operation. Based on current valuations, the asset will be valued at a yield of 5.5%, resulting in a profit on cost of approximately £5 million (Unite share £1.1 million). The acquisition will be funded with USAF’s share of proceeds from recent disposals.

Durham is a world-class University with a growing student population. The acquisition grows our presence in this highly attractive University city and provides Unite Students with scale efficiencies enabling us to drive further value from our PRISM operating platform.

Richard Simpson, Group Property Director, said:

“This latest acquisition further extends our high-quality development programme in a strong regional location where there is strong demand for purpose built student accommodation. Our strategy remains focused on high quality Universities like Durham, where we see sustainable growth.”

For further information, please contact:

Unite Students
Joe Lister, Chief Financial Officer
Paul Richmond, Corporate Affairs Director
Tel: +44 117 302 7005

Bell Pottinger
Victoria Geoghegan
Nick Lambert
Elizabeth Snow 
Tel: +44 20 3772 2562