60 Second Property Digest – robust student demand as development stalls
Just 22% of PBSA pipeline in the UK is currently under construction, as rising building and finance costs as well as planning laws slow delivery.
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UK Student Market Update Q2 2023
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An impressive 79% of students have secured their first choice at university according to last week’s A Level Results – that’s just shy of 415,000 happy students.
Although that figure represents a marginal fall on this point in the recruitment cycle last year, importantly it is an increase of 1.5% on 2019 levels, an indicator that we are returning to pre-pandemic trends.
Furthermore, the first day of Clearing after A level results showed record volumes for English 18-year-olds – up 45% on this time last year.
The results speak volumes about the strength of the student property market, highlighting the continuous demand for high-quality education and as a result an appetite for appropriate purpose-built accommodation to support students through their learning journey.
With less than 15,000 new purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) beds expected to be added to supply in this academic cycle, the shortfall of supply against demand has never been more significant.
That 15,000 is a 28% fall on the previous year’s delivery and a far cry from the average delivery we saw pre-pandemic of about 24,000 units a year.
Rising build and site costs, higher financing costs, and tricky-to-navigate planning policy all represent notable headwinds that have contributed to a slowdown in delivery.
Supply will need to increase to accommodate demand. Currently, the total pipeline is around 132,000 beds across the UK, with just 22% of this under construction.