14 Jun Key Takeaways from the Knight Frank Global Student Property Report 2019
Knight Frank have just released their annual Global Student Property report, which gives us useful insight and data on the current trends and future opportunities in the purpose-built student accommodation sector globally. Here at Prime Student Living, we look at what’s in store for the UK student accommodation market and list the main takeaways.
• Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) market in the UK is the second largest market outside North America, being valued over $65 billion
• International student numbers are increasing, with application numbers in 2019/20 growing 6% year on year.
• International students represent 16% of full-time undergraduate students in the UK.
• Demand from domestic students is decreasing due to the demographic trend of the falling numbers of 18 years olds – this is likely to balance back out and grow in the long term.
• Estimated 15% increase in full time undergraduate numbers between 2019 and 2020, bringing the total amount of full-time undergraduate students to over 1.7 million.
• As international student numbers have increased over the past 5 years, so too has the amount of studio stock coming into the market to cater for their demands. This trend is now changing as affordability becomes more of an issue. In 2019/20 61% of new PBSA schemes coming into the market are en-suite cluster schemes.
• 25,000 new PBSA beds are being delivered into the market each year.
• Value will be the main driver in PBSA in the future. It is expected that investors will be increasingly drawn to schemes where the rent is perceived as affordable, resulting in the reduction of schemes offering even higher specifications.
• Demand will be strongest for accommodation that adds value, such as high-end social spaces and additional complementary services.
Top 5 PBSA Hotspots:
- Manchester
- London
- Bristol
- Brighton
- Edinburgh
Want the detail? Read the full report here> Knight Frank Global Student Property Report 2019
