Student Accommodation Investment Hits the Mainstream

This year has seen unprecedented levels of investment in the student housing market. But where's it all been coming from?

Well it's readily apparent that the UK property sector has seen a massive influx of foreign capital this year, and the student accommodation market is definitely no exception. So much so in fact that talk of student accommodation becoming a mainstream investment has been floating around for months now.

To put figures on these statements, £4.1 billion has been invested into the sector this year - making it the largest year for student accommodation investment on record. And where has it all come from? Well 84% of the money can be classified as cross-border, meaning that it is essentially from overseas investors. But even more specifically, 79% of the total investment has come from Canadian and American firms.

There are many theories behind the sudden influx, but the most plausible seems to be that the conventional property market in the UK has become somewhat saturated. But with student numbers (and of course property prices) on the rise, there's never been a better time (on paper) to invest in student accommodation.

Is this level of investment sustainable? Well that is yet to be seen, and some cities across the UK are already questioning the wisdom of building several massive developments all at once. But for now (on paper at least) the going's good.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Creative Commons.