Student Accommodation Acquired Out of Administration

A stalled student accommodation project in Newcastle-under-Lyme, due to consist of 273 student beds, has been acquired out of administration.

The development, which is currently still under construction, was due for completion in time for the September 2017 intake for Keele University students. Delays to construction earlier on in the year meant that the part-built accommodation block was never finished.

James Fish and Craig Johns of Cowgills Business Recovery were appointed as joint administrators last month.

James Fish commented on the matter: "We obtained a valuation of the site and, following a period of marketing, we received an offer that was capable of being recommended for acceptance by our appointed agents, Landwood Group.

"However, before proceeding with the sale we afforded the investors the opportunity to explore the possibility of buying the site back and raising the required funding to complete the build-out themselves.

"Unfortunately, the investors were not able to raise sufficient funding to acquire the site and, with pressure increasing from the local council to find a solution, the joint administrators decided to accept a sale to a third party which would provide a cash return to certain creditors."

A court's sanction was required for the proposed sale of £2.15m, which was completed on 9th December 2021 to Built 4 Learning.

Associate partner at Farleys Solicitors, Mark Hague also commented: "This has been a challenging and complex project that has required input from a substantial number of professionals to achieve the result we have for the investors.

"The multi-specialist team has enabled an outcome that will see investors receive substantial returns from a situation that they did not anticipate receiving anything back at all."