Cornerstone International Reports Growing Interest in UK Student Property

Reports indicate that interest in the UK student accommodation market from Malaysian investors has remained strong even after the EU referendum.

Cornerstone International (CSI) is an agency and consultancy specialist in overseas property for Malaysian buyers and has reported interest among its clients for UK student property continues to grow.

The company indicated that for 2016 it saw sale volumes grow 60% year-on-year, with UK properties accounting for more than half that. The agency attributed the growth to the lower value of the pound following Brexit, which has created favourable exchange rates for Malaysian investors.

According to CSI, the majority of UK property investments are targeted towards student accommodation and accounted for over 65% of all UK property sales the company handles.

The student property market has shown to be anti-cyclical in nature, offering resistance to recessions. CSI expects the same principles to apply when the impact of Brexit is fully known and predicts it will do little to discourage students from choosing to study at popular UK institutions.

CSI is not the only Asian property specialist to issue a vote of confidence in UK student housing. A number of Asian institutional investors have recently invested significant amounts of money into the sector. Singapore's GIC recently invested £227 million into a joint venture with UK student specialist Unite.