Unite Students acquires new site in Manchester – 22 February 2017

Unite Students, the UK’s leading manager and developer of student accommodation, has exchanged contracts to acquire a development site in Manchester, on a subject to planning basis.  The site, in Manchester city centre, is located near to the University of Manchester and is anticipated to provide a home for around 450 students.

The acquisition is forecast to cost around £41 million and deliver returns in line with our targeted level of 8.0-8.5% 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 c. 7,500 beds underpinning our earnings growth outlook.

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 commented:

“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.”

For further information, please contact:

Unite Students

Joe Lister, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +44 117 302 7005

Paul Richmond, Corporate Affairs Director

Bell Pottinger

Victoria Geoghegan Tel: +44 20 3772 2562

Nick Lambert

Elizabeth Snow