Developer puts 344-bed Steel City student accommodation in Sheffield on the market

It is selling a total of 2,049 student beds across five freehold buildings in Sheffield, Nottingham, Guildford, Colchester and Loughborough.

Investment agent Harris Associates said all five assets represent a rare opportunity to amass considerable scale in the the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector, a marketplace with strong tailwinds and structural under-supply.The portfolio presents a unit mix, comprising cluster en-suites, studios, townhouses, and one-to-three-bedroom apartments.

With rising construction costs, the current regional pipeline largely focuses on studios.

Through Future Generation’s partnership with Samsung, every room has a high-specification TV and integrated air conditioning.

The portfolio includes both domestic and international student occupiers and is anticipated to generate a gross operating income of £20.7m in the academic year 2023/24. Jamie Harris, head of student accommodation at Harris Associates, said:

“The Future portfolio is an opportunity to acquire a truly transformative portfolio and amass scale in key university cities with structural undersupplies. With its defensive mixture of clusters to studios, a portfolio of this nature is simply unable to be built again.”

Andrew Southern, chairman of Southern Grove, a developer specialising in residential, hospitality and student accommodation, added: “The portfolio has been carefully crafted for the next generation of students - with comprehensive amenity spaces and consistent events for students.”