Many property investors are now betting on the UK’s student housing market, remaining hopeful that despite the pandemic, autumn will see a return to school and a demand for accommodation.
Those who’ve enlisted a professional wealth management firm for investment advice in Chester, Oxford, Manchester, and other university cities can look to their advisers for expert guidance. At the end of summer, many students attending UK universities will be planning on returning to campus at the end of summer, which will increase the need for student housing nearby.
The Wall Street Journal has commented that the majority of investors in UK student housing do not believe that that enrolment will not be significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, or at least that it will only have a short-term effect. Some real estate investment specialists have been vocal on the subject, stating that application rates for universities can even increase during more challenging economic climates, as was the case between 2007 and 2009 in the global financial crisis.
Here in the United Kingdom, the student housing sector still has room to expand. Recent figures indicate that only around 20-30% of UK students currently dwell in purpose-built student accommodation. Across the Atlantic, these figures are doubled with around 50-6%0 per cent of students living in this type of housing in the US.
America’s universities and student housing sector alike were hit hard by the pandemic. Approximately 30% of private and public universities have been operating at a loss since last autumn, with some partnering up with developers to transform student housing into luxury apartments.
