UK & Ireland

Q Investment Partners (QIP) is aiming to expand its investments into the UK purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) market. In July, the firm entered a £100m joint venture partnership with Gamuda Land to develop student housing in the UK.

GMI Construction has secured a major Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) contract to deliver a £50m scheme in Bristol. The project, on behalf of Host, represents GMI Construction’s first major residential contract win in the South West of England as it expands the footprint of its Midlands-based operation.

Fusion Group, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned student accommodation (PBSA) developers and operators, has made four new senior appointments.

Managed internet service provider ASK4, which delivers gigabit-capable broadband to students and residents (renters) in multi-tenant buildings across the UK (as well as other parts of Europe), has signed a new strategic partnership with network kit manufacturer TP-Link to deliver “enhanced connect

The City of London Corporation has approved plans to refurbish the building at 65 Fleet Street into a new mixed-use scheme. Currently an underused office building, the site will be retrofitted and transformed into a professionally managed, student living accommodation, with over 850 rooms, set near to the London School of Economics and Kings College London.

Singapore’s Mapletree Investments has put up for sale a set of 24 UK purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) properties totaling 4,844 beds, as the Temasek Holdings-backed property firm continues to rejig its S$6.2 billion student accommodation portfolio.

JLL has brought 0.25 acres at Dixon Street in the heart of Glasgow city centre to market. The site occupies a prominent corner position at the end of Buchanan Street, fronting onto the River Clyde by St Enoch subway station.

CBRE’s latest Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) Index has reported total returns of 9.8% for the sector in the year to September 2024. According to CBRE UK’s Monthly Index, total returns for all commercial property were 3.5% over the same period, indicating PBSA has now outperformed all commercial property for three consecutive years.

Watkin Jones has announced an expansion of its senior team with the recent internal appointments of Gwyn Pritchard, Managing Director of construction and Michael Bunyan, Group Development Project & Cost Director.

Plans have been lodged for 438 build-to-rent apartments, 419 student beds, and a 24,100 sq ft academic facility at the former Hilti headquarters in Stretford. Cole Waterhouse said its proposals for the two-acre brownfield plot off Trafford Wharf Road represent a gross development value of £200m.