Knight Frank defined the demand for student property in 2011 as ‘booming’ in the Student Accommodation broadcast (May 2011). In there latest analysis, there is still an extended requirement anticipated. The property giant have publicised the UK student accommodation property investment division will continue to grow in 2012 – as the division keeps on benefiting from “strong need and lack of stock”. It is predicted that the demand in London could meet another 100,000 student beds. 

CBRE have revealed that close to £840m of capital was sworn to investment and development in the United Kingdom’s student and accommodation division last year (2011). This figure is more than two times that of £350m in capital sworn in 2009. Knight Frank’s most recent Student Property publication estimates that student property returns have increased two fold in September 2011 to 15.1%.

It is also thought that the future tuition fee formation structure will only increase need for student houses at the most prestigious Institutions. Where there are a big quantity of sought after course positions. Whilst Student Property in reach of Universitites that provide non-economically viable degrees will suffer the most due to a lack of demand. A list of the top 20 Institutions to review when purchasing student accommodation can be found within Knight Franks Student Property Report entitled – The Student Property Index. 

The enlargement in the Student Property sector is said to be supported by housing with rents of less than two hundred and twenty pounds per week. This statement is backed up by the fact that accommodation within this cost range are filled most quickly – suggesting the largest level of demand. 

Revenue outside of London decreased from fourteen point six percent in September 2010 – to ten point five percent in September 2011. Knight Frank encourages investing in student property that is; located in regional settlements, within a high student population concentration, near multiple universities. This makes student housing in Birmingham a suitable option. 

Report by both Knight Frank & CBRE suggest that education is an increasingly global marketplace. The proportion of overseas students rose five times from 1975 to 2008. This value is anticipated to increase two fold again by 2025. The perseverance of this shift is backed by the decreasing value of the pound – this means that it is becoming more economically viable for overseas students to study here, and the fact that the UK has five of the Worlds top twenty Universities.

CBRE predicts that the reformation of higher education course charges will remould the make-up of the student population, opposed to forcing it into free fall. Overseas students will play an increasingly important role in the reformation of the student make-up, resulting in over-seas student numbers that are anticipated to increase by an average of three to six percent. 

All in all, student accommodation in London and the surrounding areas characterised by the variables above could facilitate the investment opening you have been waiting for.